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{{short description|The central religious text of Islam}}
{{Infobox religious text
| religion = [[Islam]]
| image    = Opened Qur'an.jpg
| alt      = A paper Quran opened halfwise on top of a brown cloth
| language = [[Quranic Arabic]]
| chapters = 114 {{small|([[List of surahs in the Quran#Table|list]])}}
| caption  =
| period   = 609–632
| verses   = More than 6 thousand, varies according to different scholars
}}
{{Quran}}
The '''Quran''' ({{IPAc-en|k|ɔr|ˈ|ɑː|n}}{{#tag:ref|The English pronunciation varies: {{IPAc-en|k|ə|ˈ|r|ɑː|n}}, {{IPAc-en|k|ə|ˈ|r|æ|n}}, {{IPAc-en|k|ɔr|ˈ|ɑː|n}}, {{IPAc-en|k|ɔr|ˈ|æ|n}}, {{IPAc-en|k|oʊ|ˈ|r|ɑː|n}}, {{IPAc-en|k|oʊ|ˈ|r|æ|n}};<ref>dictionary.reference.com: [http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/Koran koran]</ref> especially with the spelling ''quran'' {{IPAc-en|k|ʊ|ˈ|r|ɑː|n}}, {{IPAc-en|k|ʊ|ˈ|r|æ|n}};<ref>dictionary.reference.com: [http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/Quran quran]</ref> especially in British English {{IPAc-en|k|ɒ|ˈ|r|ɑː|n}}.<ref>Cambridge dictionary: [http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/the-koran koran]</ref><ref>Cambridge dictionary: [http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/the-qur-an?q=qur%27an quran]</ref>|group=Note}} {{Respell|kor|AHN|'}}; {{lang-ar|القرآن|translit=al-Qurʼān}} {{IPA-ar|alqur'ʔaːn}},{{#tag:ref|The Arabic pronunciation can be [[phonemic transcription|transcribed phonemically]] as {{IPA|/al.qurˈʔaːn/}}. The actual pronunciation in [[Modern Standard Arabic|Literary Arabic]] varies regionally. The first vowel varies from {{IPAblink|o}} to {{IPAblink|ʊ}} to {{IPAblink|u}}, while the second vowel varies from {{IPAblink|æ}} to {{IPAblink|a}} to {{IPAblink|ɑ}}. For example, the pronunciation in Egypt is {{IPA|[qorˤˈʔɑːn]}} and in Central East Arabia {{IPA|[qʊrˈʔæːn]}}. |group=Note}} literally meaning "the recitation"), also [[Romanization of Arabic|romanized]] '''Qur'an''' or '''Koran''',{{#tag:ref| (English spelling) The form '''Alcoran''' (and its variants) was usual before the 19th century when it became obsolete.<ref>{{Cite OED1|Alcoran|volume=1|page=[https://archive.org/stream/oed01arch#page/210/mode/1up 210]|year=1888}}</ref><ref name="Ngram">[https://books.google.com/ngrams/graph?content=Alcoran%2CKoran%2CQuran%2C+Qur%27an&year_start=1700&year_end=2000&corpus=15&smoothing=3&share=&direct_url=t1%3B%2CAlcoran%3B%2Cc0%3B.t1%3B%2CKoran%3B%2Cc0%3B.t1%3B%2CQuran%3B%2Cc0%3B.t1%3B%2CQur%27an%3B%2Cc0 Google Ngram]</ref> The form '''Koran''' was most predominant from the second half of the 18th century till the 1980s, when it has been superseded by either '''Qur'an''' or '''Quran'''.<ref name="Ngram" /><ref>{{Cite OED1|Koran|volume=5|page=[https://archive.org/stream/newenglishdict05murrmiss#page/753/mode/1up 753]|year=1901}}</ref><ref name="OED-Koran">{{OED|Koran}}</ref><ref name="OED-Quran">{{OED|Quran}}</ref> Other transliterations include ''al-Coran'', ''Coran'', ''Kuran'' and ''al-Qur'an''. The adjectives vary as well and include ''Koranic'', ''Quranic'' and ''Qur'anic'' (sometimes in lowercase).<ref name="MWD-Koran">{{MerriamWebsterDictionary|Koran}}</ref>
 |group=Note}} is the central [[religious text]] of [[Islam]], which [[Muslim]]s believe to be a [[revelation]] from [[God in Islam|God]] (''[[Allah]]'').<ref name="Britannica">{{cite encyclopedia|last=Nasr |first=Seyyed Hossein | authorlink=Seyyed Hossein Nasr | title=Qurʼān |year=2007| encyclopedia=Encyclopædia Britannica Online | accessdate=2007-11-04|location=|publisher=|url=http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-68890/Quran}}</ref> It is widely regarded as the finest work in [[Arabic literature#Classical Arabic literature|classical Arabic literature]].<ref>Margot Patterson, [https://books.google.com/books?id=Lt60_e69bPUC&pg=PA10 ''Islam Considered: A Christian View,''] [[Liturgical Press]], 2008 p. 10.</ref><ref>Mir Sajjad Ali, Zainab Rahman, [https://books.google.com/books?id=smfe1CdTRRYC&pg=PA24 ''Islam and Indian Muslims,''] Guan Publishing House 2010 p. 24, citing [[N.J. Dawood]]'s judgement.</ref>{{#tag:ref| opening page.{{quote|"Its outstanding literary merit should also be noted: it is by far, the finest work of Arabic prose in existence."<ref>Alan Jones, ''The Koran'', London 1994, {{ISBN|1842126091}}</ref>}}|group=Note}}{{#tag:ref|{{quote|"It may be affirmed that within the literature of the Arabs, wide and fecund as it is both in poetry and in elevated prose, there is nothing to compare with it."<ref>Arthur Arberry, The Koran Interpreted, London 1956, {{ISBN|0684825074}}, p. 191.</ref> }}|group=Note}} Slightly shorter than the [[New Testament]],<ref name="battle">{{cite news |title=The battle of the books |url=https://www.economist.com/christmas-specials/2007/12/19/the-battle-of-the-books |accessdate=13 April 2019 |agency=Economist |date=19 December 2007}}</ref> it is organized in 114 chapters (Arabic: سورة ''[[surah|sūrah]]'', plural سور ''suwar'') — not according to chronology or subject matter, but according to length of surahs (with some exceptions).<ref name="Ayaz-response"/> Surah are subdivided into verses (Arabic: آية ''[[āyah]]'', plural آيات ''āyāt'').

Muslims believe that the Quran was orally revealed by God to the [[Khatam an-Nabiyyin|final prophet]], [[Muhammad in Islam|Muhammad]], through the archangel [[Gabriel]] (''[[Holy Spirit (Islam)|Jibril]]''),<ref name=Lambert>{{cite book|last1=Lambert|first1=Gray|title=The Leaders Are Coming!|date=2013|publisher=WestBow Press|isbn=9781449760137|page=287|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=sV0mAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA287 }}</ref><ref name="Williams & Drew">{{cite book|author1=Roy H. Williams|author2=Michael R. Drew|title=Pendulum: How Past Generations Shape Our Present and Predict Our Future|date=2012|publisher=Vanguard Press|isbn=9781593157067|page=143|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=mygRHh6p40kC&pg=PA143 }}</ref> incrementally over a period of some 23 years, beginning on 22 December 609 [[Common Era|CE]],<ref>
* ''Chronology of Prophetic Events'', Fazlur Rehman Shaikh (2001) p. 50 Ta-Ha Publishers Ltd.
* [http://tanzil.net/#trans/en.arberry/17:105 Quran 17:105]</ref> when Muhammad was 40, and concluding in 632, the year of his death.<ref name="Britannica"/><ref name = LivRlgP338>''Living Religions: An Encyclopaedia of the World's Faiths'', Mary Pat Fisher, 1997, p. 338, I.B. Tauris Publishers.</ref><ref name = QuranC17V106>{{Cite quran|17|106|style=nosup}}</ref> Muslims regard the Quran as Muhammad's most important miracle, a proof of his prophethood,<ref>{{cite book|last=Peters|first=F.E.|title=The Words and Will of God|year=2003|publisher=[[Princeton University Press]]|isbn=978-0-691-11461-3|pages=[https://archive.org/details/monotheistsjewsc01pete/page/12 12–13]|url=https://archive.org/details/monotheistsjewsc01pete/page/12}}</ref> and the culmination of a series of divine messages starting with those revealed to [[Adam]], including the ''[[Tawrah]]'' ([[Torah]]), the ''[[Zabur]]'' ("[[Psalms]]") and the ''[[Gospel in Islam|Injil]]'' ("Gospel"), and ending with Muhammad's revelation. The word "Quran" occurs some 70 times in the Quran's text, and other names and words are also said to refer to the Quran.<ref name="Wheeler2002">{{cite book|author=Brannon M. Wheeler|title=Prophets in the Quran: An Introduction to the Quran and Muslim Exegesis|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qIDZIep-GIQC|date=2002|publisher=A&C Black|isbn=978-0-8264-4957-3|page=2}}</ref> It is thought by Muslims to be not simply divinely inspired, but the literal [[Biblical inspiration|word of God]].<ref name="Carroll-Q-H">{{cite web |last1=Carroll |first1=Jill |title=The Quran & Hadith |url=https://www.world-religions-professor.com/quran.html |website=World Religions |accessdate=10 July 2019}}</ref>

According to tradition, several of Muhammad's companions served as scribes and recorded the revelations.<ref name="Donner-Companion" /> Shortly after his death, the Quran was compiled by the companions, who had written down or memorized parts of it.<ref name=jecampo/> The codices showed differences that motivated Caliph [[Uthman]] to establish a standard version, now known as Uthman's codex, which is generally considered the archetype of the Quran known today. There are, however, [[Qira'at|variant readings]], with mostly minor differences in meaning.<ref name="Donner-Companion">Donner, Fred, "The historical context" in McAuliffe, J.D. (ed.), ''The Cambridge Companion to the Qur'ān'' (Cambridge University Press, 2006), pp. 31–33.</ref>

The Quran assumes [[Biblical and Quranic narratives|familiarity with major narratives]] recounted in the [[Books of the Bible|Biblical scriptures]]. It summarizes some, dwells at length on others and, in some cases, presents alternative accounts and interpretations of events.<ref name=sanigosian>{{cite book|last=Nigosian|first=S.A.|title=Islam : its history, teaching and practices|url=https://archive.org/details/islamitshistoryt0000nigo|url-access=registration|year=2004|publisher=Indiana Univ. Press|isbn=978-0-253-21627-4|pages=[https://archive.org/details/islamitshistoryt0000nigo/page/65 65–80]|edition=[New ed.].}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|first=Brannon M.|last=Wheeler|year=2002|title=Prophets in the Quran: an introduction to the Quran and Muslim exegesis|publisher=Continuum|page=15|isbn=978-0-8264-4956-6}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://tanzil.net/#trans/en.arberry/3:84|title=Tanzil – Quran Navigator – القرآن الكريم|website=tanzil.net}}</ref> The Quran describes itself as a book of guidance for mankind (<span class="plainlinks">{{Cite quran|2|185|b=n|s=ns}}</span>). It sometimes offers detailed accounts of specific historical events, and it often emphasizes the moral significance of an event over its narrative sequence.<ref>Nasr (2003), p. 42{{full citation needed|date=July 2011}}</ref><ref>{{Cite quran|2|67|end=76|style=nosup}}</ref> Supplementing the Quran with  explanations for some cryptic Quranic narratives, and rulings that also provide the basis for [[Sharia|''sharia'' (Islamic) law]] (in most denominations of Islam),<ref name="handbook"/>{{#tag:ref|In a small number of denominations, only the Quran is used as a source, an approach called [[Quranism]].|group=Note}} are ''[[Hadith]]'' — [[oral tradition|oral and written traditions]] believed to describe words and actions of Muhammad.{{#tag:ref|Hadith are primarily from Muhammad but some are from those closest to him. Muslim scholars have worked carefully to authenticate them.|group=Note}}<ref name="handbook">''Handbook of Islamic Marketing'', p. 38, G. Rice – 2011</ref>  During prayers, the Quran is recited only in Arabic.<ref>Literacy and Development: Ethnographic Perspectives. p. 193, Brian V Street – 2001</ref>

Someone who has memorized the entire Quran is called a ''[[Hafiz (Quran)|hafiz]]''. Quranic verse (''[[ayah]]'') is sometimes recited with a special kind of [[elocution]] reserved for this purpose, called ''[[tajwid]]''. During the month of [[Ramadan]], Muslims typically complete the recitation of the whole Quran during ''[[tarawih]]'' prayers. In order to extrapolate the meaning of a particular Quranic verse, most Muslims rely on [[exegesis]], or ''[[tafsir]]''.<ref>Apocalypse And/or Metamorphosis. p. 81, Norman Oliver Brown – 1991</ref>

==Etymology and meaning==
The word {{transl|ar|ALA|qurʼān}} appears about 70 times in the Quran itself, assuming various meanings. It is a [[verbal noun]] ([[Arabic verbs#Verbal noun (maṣdar)|{{transl|ar|ALA|maṣdar}}]]) of the [[Arabic language|Arabic]] verb {{transl|ar|ALA|qaraʼa}} ({{lang|ar|قرأ}}), meaning "he read" or "he recited". The [[Syriac language|Syriac]] equivalent is ({{lang|syc|ܩܪܝܢܐ|}}) {{transl|sem|qeryānā}}, which refers to "scripture reading" or "lesson".<ref name="Comprehensive Aramaic Lexicon">{{cite web |title=The Comprehensive Aramaic Lexicon |url=http://cal.huc.edu/searchroots.php?pos=N&lemma=qryn |website=cal.huc.edu |accessdate=31 August 2013 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20171018134645/http://cal.huc.edu/searchroots.php?pos=N&lemma=qryn |archive-date=18 Oct 2017}}</ref> While some Western scholars consider the word to be derived from the Syriac, the majority of Muslim authorities hold the origin of the word is {{transl|ar|ALA|qaraʼa}} itself.<ref name=Britannica /> Regardless, it had become an Arabic term by Muhammad's lifetime.<ref name="Britannica"/> An important meaning of the word is the "act of reciting", as reflected in an early Quranic passage: "It is for Us to collect it and to recite it ({{transl|ar|ALA|qurʼānahu}})."<ref>{{Cite quran|75|17|style=nosup}}</ref>

In other verses, the word refers to "an individual passage recited [by Muhammad]". Its [[liturgy|liturgical]] context is seen in a number of passages, for example: ''"So when {{transl|ar|ALA|al-qurʼān|italic=no}} is recited, listen to it and keep silent."''<ref>{{Cite quran|7|204|style=nosup}}</ref> The word may also assume the meaning of a codified scripture when mentioned with other scriptures such as the [[Tawrat|Torah]] and [[Injil|Gospel]].<ref>See "Ķur'an, al-", ''Encyclopedia of Islam Online'' and {{Cite quran|9|111}}</ref>

The term also has closely related [[synonym]]s that are employed throughout the Quran. Each synonym possesses its own distinct meaning, but its use may converge with that of {{transl|ar|ALA|qurʼān}} in certain contexts. Such terms include {{transl|ar|kitāb}} (book); {{transl|ar|[[ayah|āyah]]}} (sign); and {{transl|ar|[[Sura|sūrah]]}} (scripture). The latter two terms also denote units of revelation. In the large majority of contexts, usually with a [[definite article]] (''al-''), the word is referred to as the "revelation" (''[[wahy|waḥy]]''), that which has been "sent down" (''[[tanzil|tanzīl]]'') at intervals.<ref>{{Cite quran|20|2|style=nosup}} cf.</ref><ref>{{Cite quran|25|32|style=nosup}} cf.</ref> Other related words are: {{transl|ar|ALA|[[dhikr]]}} (remembrance), used to refer to the Quran in the sense of a reminder and warning, and {{transl|ar|ḥikmah}} (wisdom), sometimes referring to the revelation or part of it.<ref name=Britannica />{{#tag:ref|According to Welch in the ''Encyclopedia of Islam'', the verses pertaining to the usage of the word ''hikma'' should probably be interpreted in the light of IV, 105, where it is said that "Muhammad is to judge (''tahkum'') mankind on the basis of the Book sent down to him."|group=Note}}

The Quran describes itself as "the discernment" (''al-furqān''), "the mother book" (''umm al-kitāb''), "the guide" (''huda''), "the wisdom" (''[[hikmah]]''), "the remembrance" (''dhikr'') and "the revelation" (''tanzīl''; something sent down, signifying the descent of an object from a higher place to lower place).<ref name=Jaffer>{{cite book|author1=Abbas Jaffer |author2=Masuma Jaffer |title=Quranic Sciences|publisher=ICAS press|year=2009|isbn=978-1-904063-30-8|pages=11–15}}</ref> Another term is {{transl|ar|ALA|al-kitāb}} (The Book), though it is also used in the Arabic language for other scriptures, such as the Torah and the Gospels. The term ''[[mus'haf]]'' ('written work') is often used to refer to particular Quranic manuscripts but is also used in the Quran to identify earlier revealed books.<ref name="Britannica" />

==History==
{{main|History of the Quran}}

===Prophetic era===
{{More citations needed|section|date=May 2019}}
[[File:Cave Hira.jpg|thumb|upright=0.7|Cave of Hira, location of Muhammad's first revelation.]]
Islamic tradition relates that [[Muhammad in Islam|Muhammad]] received [[Muhammad's first revelation|his first revelation]] in the [[Cave of Hira]] during one of his isolated retreats to the mountains. Thereafter, he received revelations over a period of 23 years. According to ''[[hadith]]'' and Muslim history, after Muhammad [[Hijra (Islam)|immigrated to Medina]] and formed an independent Muslim community, he ordered many of his [[sahabah|companions]] to recite the Quran and to learn and teach the laws, which were revealed daily. It is related that some of the [[Quraysh tribe|Quraysh]] who were taken prisoners at the [[Battle of Badr]] regained their freedom after they had taught some of the Muslims the simple writing of the time. Thus a group of Muslims gradually became literate. As it was initially spoken, the Quran was recorded on tablets, bones, and the wide, flat ends of date palm fronds. Most suras were in use amongst early Muslims since they are mentioned in numerous sayings by both [[Sunni]] and [[Shia]] sources, relating Muhammad's use of the Quran as a call to Islam, the making of prayer and the manner of recitation. However, the Quran did not exist in book form at the time of Muhammad's death in 632.<ref name=tabatabai5>{{cite book|last=Tabatabai|first=Sayyid M. H.|title=The Qur'an in Islam : its impact and influence on the life of muslims|year=1987|publisher=Zahra Publ.|isbn=978-0710302663|url=https://archive.org/details/quraninislamitsi0000taba|url-status=dead|df=dmy-all|url-access=registration}}</ref><ref name=watt>{{cite book|last=Richard Bell (Revised and Enlarged by W. Montgomery Watt)|title=Bell's introduction to the Qur'an|year=1970|publisher=Univ. Press|isbn=978-0852241714|pages=31–51}}
</ref><ref name=chi>{{cite book|last=P.M. Holt, Ann K.S. Lambton and Bernard Lewis|title=The Cambridge history of Islam|year=1970|publisher=Cambridge Univ. Press|isbn=9780521291354|page=32|edition=Reprint.}}</ref> There is agreement among scholars that Muhammad himself did not write down the revelation.<ref name=denffer>{{cite book|last=Denffer|first=Ahmad von|title=Ulum al-Qur'an : an introduction to the sciences of the Qur an|year=1985|publisher=Islamic Foundation|isbn=978-0860371328|page=37|edition=Repr.}}</ref>

''[[Sahih al-Bukhari]]'' narrates Muhammad describing the revelations as, "Sometimes it is (revealed) like the ringing of a bell" and [[Aisha]] reported, "I saw the Prophet being inspired Divinely on a very cold day and noticed the sweat dropping from his forehead (as the Inspiration was over)."{{#tag:ref| "God's Apostle replied, 'Sometimes it is (revealed) like the ringing of a bell, this form of Inspiration is the hardest of all and then this state passes off after I have grasped what is inspired. Sometimes the Angel comes in the form of a man and talks to me and I grasp whatever he says.' ʻAisha added: Verily I saw the Prophet being inspired Divinely on a very cold day and noticed the Sweat dropping from his forehead (as the Inspiration was over)."<ref>[http://www.cmje.org/religious-texts/hadith/bukhari/001-sbt.php Translation of Sahih Bukhari, Book 1] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120110054749/http://www.cmje.org/religious-texts/hadith/bukhari/001-sbt.php |date=10 January 2012 }}. Center for Muslim-Jewish Engagement.</ref>|group=Note}} Muhammad's first revelation, according to the Quran, was accompanied with a vision. The agent of revelation is mentioned as the "one mighty in power",<ref>Quran {{Cite quran|53|5|b=n|s=ns}}</ref> the one who "grew clear to view when he was on the uppermost horizon. Then he drew nigh and came down till he was (distant) two bows' length or even nearer."<ref name=watt/><ref>Quran {{Cite quran|53|6|e=9|b=n|s=ns}}</ref> The Islamic studies scholar Welch states in the ''[[Encyclopaedia of Islam]]'' that he believes the graphic descriptions of Muhammad's condition at these moments may be regarded as genuine, because he was severely disturbed after these revelations. According to Welch, these seizures would have been seen by those around him as convincing evidence for the superhuman origin of Muhammad's inspirations. However, Muhammad's critics accused him of being a possessed man, a [[Clairvoyant|soothsayer]] or a [[magician (paranormal)|magician]] since his experiences were similar to those claimed by such figures well known in [[Pre-Islamic Arabia|ancient Arabia]]. Welch additionally states that it remains uncertain whether these experiences occurred before or after Muhammad's initial claim of prophethood.<ref>[[Encyclopedia of Islam]] online, Muhammad article</ref>
[[File:Iqra.jpg|thumb|upright=0.95|Part of ''[[Al-Alaq]]'' – 96th ''sura'' of the Quran – the first revelation received by Muhammad.]]

The Quran describes Muhammad as ''"ummi"'',<ref>Quran {{Cite quran|7|157|b=n|s=ns}}</ref> which is traditionally interpreted as "illiterate", but the meaning is rather more complex. Medieval commentators such as [[Muhammad ibn Jarir al-Tabari|Al-Tabari]] maintained that the term induced two meanings: first, the inability to read or write in general; second, the inexperience or ignorance of the previous books or scriptures (but they gave priority to the first meaning). Muhammad's illiteracy was taken as a sign of the genuineness of his prophethood. For example, according to [[Fakhr al-Din al-Razi]], if Muhammad had mastered writing and reading he possibly would have been suspected of having studied the books of the ancestors. Some scholars such as [[William Montgomery Watt|Watt]] prefer the second meaning of ''"ummi"''—they take it to indicate unfamiliarity with earlier sacred texts.<ref name=watt/><ref>{{cite journal|last=Günther|first=Sebastian|title=Muhammad, the Illiterate Prophet: An Islamic Creed in the Quran and Quranic Exegesis|journal=Journal of Quranic Studies|year=2002|volume=4|issue=1|pages=1–26|doi=10.3366/jqs.2002.4.1.1}}</ref>

The final verse of the Quran was revealed on the 18th of the Islamic month of [[Dhu al-Hijjah]] in the year 10 A.H., a date that roughly corresponds to February or March 632. The verse was revealed after [[The event of Ghadir Khumm|the Prophet finished delivering his sermon at Ghadir Khumm]].

===Compilation===
{{See also|Sanaʽa manuscript|Birmingham Quran manuscript}}
Following Muhammad's death in 632, a number of his companions who knew the Quran by heart were killed in the [[Battle of Yamama]] by [[Musaylimah]]. The first caliph, [[Abu Bakr]] (d. 634), subsequently decided to collect the book in one volume so that it could be preserved. [[Zayd ibn Thabit]] (d. 655) was the person to collect the Quran since "he used to write the Divine Inspiration for Allah's Apostle". Thus, a group of scribes, most importantly Zayd, collected the verses and produced a hand-written manuscript of the complete book. The manuscript according to Zayd remained with Abu Bakr until he died. Zayd's reaction to the task and the difficulties in collecting the Quranic material from parchments, palm-leaf stalks, thin stones (collectively known as ''suhuf'')<ref name=demyth-62>{{cite journal |author=Roslan Abdul-Rahim |title=Demythologizing the Qur'an Rethinking Revelation Through Naskh al-Qur'an |journal=Global Journal Al-Thaqafah|date=December 2017 |volume=7 |issue=2 |issn=2232-0474 |page=62 |ref=RARDtQ2017 |doi=10.7187/GJAT122017-2 |doi-access=free }}</ref> and from men who knew it by heart is recorded in earlier narratives. After Abu Bakr, in 644, [[Hafsa bint Umar]], Muhammad's widow, was entrusted with the manuscript until the third caliph, Uthman ibn Affan, has requested the standard copy from Hafsa bint Umar in about 650.<ref>{{cite web |title=Wat is de Koran? |url=https://koran.nl/wat-is-de-koran/ |website=Koran.nl |language=nl |date=18 February 2016}}</ref>


In about 650, the third Caliph [[Uthman ibn Affan]] (d. 656) began noticing slight differences in pronunciation of the Quran as Islam expanded beyond the [[Arabian Peninsula]] into [[Persia]], the [[Levant]], and North Africa. In order to preserve the sanctity of the text, he ordered a committee headed by Zayd to use Abu Bakr's copy and prepare a standard copy of the Quran.<ref name=tabatabai5/><ref name=sbukhari1>{{cite web|last=al-Bukhari|first=Muhammad|title=Sahih Bukhari, volume 6, book 61, narrations number 509 and 510|url=http://www.sahih-bukhari.com/Pages/Bukhari_6_61.php|year=810–870|website=sahih-bukhari.com|accessdate=16 February 2018}}</ref>  Thus, within 20 years of Muhammad's death, the Quran was committed to written form.  That text became the model from which copies were made and promulgated throughout the urban centers of the Muslim world, and other versions are believed to have been destroyed.<ref name=tabatabai5/><ref name="rippin">{{cite book|last=Rippin, Andrew|url=https://archive.org/details/blackwellcompani00ripp_0|title=The Blackwell companion to the Qur'an|publisher=Blackwell|year=2006|isbn=978140511752-4|edition=[2a reimpr.]|display-authors=etal}}

* see section ''Poetry and Language'' by [[Navid Kermani]], pp. 107–120.
* For eschatology, see ''Discovering (final destination)'' by Christopher Buck, p. 30.
* For writing and printing, see section ''Written Transmission'' by [[François Déroche]], pp. 172–187.
* For literary structure, see section ''Language'' by Mustansir Mir, p. 93.
* For the history of compilation see ''Introduction'' by [[Tamara Sonn]] pp. 5–6
* For recitation, see ''Recitation'' by Anna M. Gade pp. 481–493
</ref><ref>Mohamad K. Yusuff, [http://www.irfi.org/articles/articles_251_300/zayd_ibn_thabit_and_the_glorious.htm Zayd ibn Thabit and the Glorious Qur'an]</ref><ref name="MCKVSI2000:117–124">[[#MCKVSI2000|Cook, ''The Koran'', 2000]]: pp.117–124</ref> The present form of the Quran text is accepted by Muslim scholars to be the original version compiled by Abu Bakr.<ref name=watt/><ref name=chi/>{{#tag:ref| "Few have failed to be convinced that … the Quran is … the words of Muhammad, perhaps even dictated by him after their recitation."<ref name=peters-1991>F.E. Peters (1991), pp. 3–5:</ref>|group=Note}}

[[File:Quran by Imam ali.JPG|thumb|Quran − in [[Mashhad]], Iran − said to be written by [[Ali]]]]
According to [[Shia Islam|Shia]], [[Ali|Ali ibn Abi Talib]] (d. 661) compiled a complete version of the Quran shortly after Muhammad's death. The order of this text differed from that gathered later during Uthman's era in that this version had been collected in chronological order. Despite this, he made no objection against the standardized Quran and accepted the Quran in circulation. Other personal copies of the Quran might have existed including [[Abd Allah ibn Mas'ud|Ibn Mas'ud]]'s and [[Ubay ibn Ka'b]]'s codex, none of which exist today.<ref name="Britannica"/><ref name=tabatabai5/><ref name=leaman>{{cite book|last=Leaman|first=Oliver|title=The Qur'an: an Encyclopedia|year=2006|publisher=Routledge|location=New York|isbn=978-0-415-32639-1|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/quranencyclopedi2006unse}}
* For God in the Quran (Allah), see ''Allah'' by Zeki Saritoprak, pp. 33–40.
* For eschatology, see ''Eschatology'' by Zeki Saritoprak, pp. 194–199.
* For searching the Arabic text on the internet and writing, see ''Cyberspace and the Qur'an'' by Andrew Rippin, pp. 159–163.
* For calligraphy, see by ''Calligraphy and the Qur'an'' by Oliver Leaman, pp. 130–135.
* For translation, see ''Translation and the Qur'an'' by Afnan Fatani, pp. 657–669.
* For recitation, see ''Art and the Qur'an'' by Tamara Sonn, pp. 71–81 and ''Reading'' by Stefan Wild, pp. 532–535.</ref>

The Quran most likely existed in scattered written form during Muhammad's lifetime. Several sources indicate that during Muhammad's lifetime a large number of his companions had memorized the revelations. Early commentaries and Islamic historical sources support the above-mentioned understanding of the Quran's early development.<ref name=jecampo>{{cite book|last=Campo|first=Juan E.|title=Encyclopedia of Islam|year=2009|publisher=Facts On File|isbn=978-0-8160-5454-1|pages=570–574}}</ref> The Quran in its present form is generally considered by academic scholars to record the words spoken by Muhammad because the search for variants has not yielded any differences of great significance.{{page needed|date=October 2019}}<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hbEEuTMUuX0C&pg=PA283 |title=Basic Mechanics of Islamic Capitalism|isbn=9789881721716|last1=Hitti|first1=Edwin E|year=2007}}</ref> [[University of Chicago]] professor [[Fred Donner]] states that "...there was a very early attempt to establish a uniform consonantal text of the Qurʾān from what was probably a wider and more varied group of related texts in early transmission. [...] After the creation of this standardized canonical text, earlier authoritative texts were suppressed, and all extant manuscripts—despite their numerous variants—seem to date to a time after this standard consonantal text was established."<ref>{{cite journal| last = Donner| first = Fred M.  | doi = 10.1086/674909 | volume = 73| issue = 1| pages = 166–169| title = Review: Textual Criticism and Qurʾān Manuscripts, by Keith E. Small| journal = Journal of Near Eastern Studies| date = 2014 |ref=harv}}</ref> Although most variant readings of the text of the Quran have ceased to be transmitted, some still are.<ref name="melchert2"/><ref>Ibn Warraq, ''Which Koran? Variants, Manuscript, Linguistics'', p. 45. Prometheus Books, 2011. {{ISBN|1591024307}}</ref> There has been no [[critical text]] produced on which a scholarly reconstruction of the Quranic text could be based.{{#tag:ref|For both the claim that variant readings are still transmitted and the claim that no such critical edition has been produced, see Gilliot, C., "Creation of a fixed text" <ref>Gilliot, C., "Creation of a fixed text" in McAuliffe, J.D. (ed.), ''The Cambridge Companion to the Qur'ān'' (Cambridge University Press, 2006), p. 52.</ref>|group=Note}} Historically, controversy over the Quran's content has rarely become an issue, although debates continue on the subject.<ref>{{cite web|last=Arthur Jeffery and St. Clair-Tisdal et al, Edited by Ibn Warraq, Summarised by Sharon Morad, Leeds|url=http://debate.org.uk/topics/books/origins-koran.html|title=The Origins of the Koran: Classic Essays on Islam's Holy Book|accessdate=2011-03-15|url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20110518035126/http://debate.org.uk/topics/books/origins-koran.html|archivedate=18 May 2011|df=dmy-all}}</ref>{{#tag:ref|"Few have failed to be convinced that the Quran is the words of Muhammad, perhaps even dictated by him after their recitation."<ref name=peters-1991/>|group=Note}}

In 1972, in a mosque in the city of [[Sana'a]], [[Yemen]], manuscripts were discovered that were later proved to be the most ancient Quranic text known to exist at the time. The [[Sana'a manuscript]]s contain [[palimpsest]]s, a manuscript page from which the text has been washed off to make the parchment reusable again—a practice which was common in ancient times due to scarcity of writing material. However, the faint washed-off underlying text (''scriptio inferior'') is still barely visible and believed to be "pre-Uthmanic" Quranic content, while the text written on top (''scriptio superior'') is believed to belong to Uthmanic time.<ref name=jqs1>{{cite journal|title='The Qur'an: Text, Interpretation and Translation' Third Biannual SOAS Conference, 16–17 October 2003|journal=Journal of Qur'anic Studies|date=April 2004|volume=6|issue=1|pages=143–145|doi=10.3366/jqs.2004.6.1.143}}</ref> Studies using [[radiocarbon dating]] indicate that the parchments are dated to the period before 671 CE with a 99 percent probability.<ref name=bergmann>{{cite journal|last=Bergmann|first=Uwe|author2=Sadeghi, Behnam |title=The Codex of a Companion of the Prophet and the Qurān of the Prophet|journal=Arabica|date=September 2010|volume=57|issue=4|pages=343–436|doi=10.1163/157005810X504518}}</ref><ref name=sadeghi>{{cite journal|last=Sadeghi|first=Behnam|author2=Goudarzi, Mohsen |title=Ṣan'ā' 1 and the Origins of the Qur'ān|journal=Der Islam|date=March 2012|volume=87|issue=1–2|pages=1–129|doi=10.1515/islam-2011-0025}}</ref> The German scholar [[Gerd R. Puin]] has been investigating these Quran fragments for years. His research team made 35,000 microfilm photographs of the manuscripts, which he dated to early part of the 8th century. Puin has not published the entirety of his work, but noted unconventional verse orderings, minor textual variations, and rare styles of orthography. He also suggested that some of the parchments were [[palimpsest]]s which had been reused. Puin believed that this implied an evolving text as opposed to a fixed one.<ref name="LESTER-1999">{{cite journal |last1=LESTER |first1=TOBY |title=What Is the Koran? |journal=Atlantic |issue=JANUARY 1999 |url=https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/1999/01/what-is-the-koran/304024/ |accessdate=24 September 2019|date=January 1999 }}</ref>

[[File:Birmingham Quran manuscript.jpg|thumb|[[Birmingham Quran manuscript]], dated among the oldest in the world]]
In 2015, [[Birmingham Quran manuscript|fragments of a very early Quran]], dating back to 1370 years ago, were discovered in the library of the [[University of Birmingham]], England. According to the tests carried out by Oxford University Radiocarbon Accelerator Unit, "with a probability of more than 95%, the parchment was from between 568 and 645". The manuscript is written in [[Hijazi script]], an early form of written Arabic.<ref name=oldest>{{cite news|last1=Coughlan|first1=Sean|title='Oldest' Koran fragments found in Birmingham University|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/business-33436021|accessdate=22 July 2015|agency=BBC}}</ref> This is possibly the earliest extant exemplar of the Quran, but as the tests allow a range of possible dates, it cannot be said with certainty which of the existing versions is the oldest.<ref name=oldest/> Saudi scholar Saud al-Sarhan has expressed doubt over the age of the fragments as they contain dots and chapter separators that are believed to have originated later.<ref>{{cite news | newspaper = New York Times | title = A Find in Britain: Quran Fragments Perhaps as Old as Islam | author = Dan Bilefsky | date = 22 July 2015 | access-date = 28 July 2015 | url = https://www.nytimes.com/2015/07/23/world/europe/quran-fragments-university-birmingham.html?_r=0}}</ref> However Joseph E. B. Lumbard of [[Brandeis University]] has written in the ''[[Huffington Post]]'' in support of the dates proposed by the Birmingham scholars. Professor Lumbard notes that the discovery of a Quranic text that may be confirmed by radiocarbon dating as having been written in the first decades of the Islamic era, while presenting a text substantially in conformity with that traditionally accepted, reinforces a growing academic consensus that many Western sceptical and 'revisionist' theories of Quranic origins are now untenable in the light of empirical findings – whereas, on the other hand, counterpart accounts of Quranic origins within classical Islamic traditions stand up well in the light of ongoing scientific discoveries.<ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.huffingtonpost.com/joseph-e-b-lumbard/new-light-on-the-history-_b_7864930.html |title=New Light on the History of the Quranic Text? |date=24 July 2015 |newspaper=The Huffington Post |access-date=27 July 2015}}</ref>

==Significance in Islam==
{{Islam |texts}}
Muslims believe the Quran to be God's final revelation to humanity, a work of divine guidance revealed to [[Muhammad in Islam|Muhammad]] through the [[Holy Spirit (Islam)|angel Gabriel]].<ref name = LivRlgP338/><ref name="autogenerated1">Watton, Victor (1993), ''A student's approach to world religions: Islam'', Hodder & Stoughton, p. 1. {{ISBN|978-0-340-58795-9}}</ref>

Revered by pious Muslims as "the holy of holies",<ref name=AGI1954:74>[[#AGI1954|Guillaume, ''Islam'', 1954]]: p.74</ref> whose sound moves some to "tears and esctasy",<ref name="meanings-iii">{{cite book |last1=Pickthall |first1=M.M. |title=The Glorious Qur'an |date=1981 |publisher=Iqra' Book Center|location=Chicago IL|page=vii}}</ref>  it is the physical symbol of the faith,<ref name=TWLUI1982:59/>  the text often used as a charm<ref>{{cite web |title=261 results for "quran keychain" |url=https://www.amazon.com/quran-keychain/s?k=quran+keychain |accessdate=8 April 2019}}</ref> on occasions of birth, death, marriage. Consequently   
<blockquote> It must never rest beneath other books, but always on top of them, one must never drink or smoke when it is being read aloud, and it must be listened to in silence. It is a talisman against disease and disaster.<ref name=AGI1954:74/><ref name=iWWINaM1995:105>[[#iWWINaM1995|Ibn Warraq, ''Why I'm Not a Muslim'', 1995]]: p.105</ref></blockquote>
Traditionally great emphasis was put on children memorizing the 6200+ verses of the Quran, those succeeding being honored with the title [[Hafiz (Quran)|Hafiz]]. "Millions and millions" of Muslims "refer to the Koran daily to explain their actions and to justify their aspirations",{{#tag:ref|professor emeritus of Islamic thought at the University of Paris, Algerian Mohammed Arkoun.<ref name="what-atlantic-1999">{{cite journal |journal=Atlantic |last1=LESTER |first1=TOBY |date= January 1999  |title=What Is the Koran? | url=https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/1999/01/what-is-the-koran/304024/ |accessdate=8 April 2019}}</ref>  |group=Note}} and in recent years many consider it the source of scientific knowledge.<ref name="Guessoum-2008">{{cite journal |last1=Guessoum |first1=Nidhal |title=ThE QUR'AN, SCIENCE, AND THE (RELATED)CONTEMPORARY MUSLIM DISCOURSE |journal=Zygon |date=June 2008 |volume=43 |issue=2 |page=411+ |url=https://www.academia.edu/1447032 |accessdate=15 April 2019 |issn=0591-2385|doi=10.1111/j.1467-9744.2008.00925.x }}</ref><ref name="SARDAR-2008">{{cite journal |last1=SARDAR |first1=ZIAUDDIN |title=Weird science |journal=New Statesman |date=21 August 2008 |url=https://www.newstatesman.com/books/2008/08/quran-muslim-scientific |accessdate=15 April 2019}}</ref>

[[Wahy|Revelation]] in Islamic and Quranic contexts means the act of God addressing an individual, conveying a message for a greater number of recipients. The process by which the divine message comes to the heart of a messenger of God is ''[[tanzil]]'' (to send down) or ''nuzūl'' (to come down). As the Quran says, "With the truth we (God) have sent it down and with the truth it has come down."<ref>See:
* Corbin (1993), p. 12{{full citation needed|date=November 2012}}
* Wild (1996), pp. 137, 138, 141 and 147{{full citation needed|date=November 2012}}
* {{Cite quran|2|97|style=nosup}}
* {{Cite quran|17|105|style=nosup}}</ref>

The Quran frequently asserts in its text that it is divinely ordained. Some verses in the Quran seem to imply that even those who do not speak Arabic would understand the Quran if it were recited to them.<ref name="jenssen2001">Jenssen, H., "Arabic Language" in McAuliffe et al. (eds.), ''[[Encyclopaedia of the Qur'ān]], vol. 1'' (Brill, 2001), pp. 127–135.</ref> The Quran refers to a written pre-text, "the preserved tablet", that records God's speech even before it was sent down.<ref name="tsonn">{{cite book|last = Sonn|first = Tamara|title = Islam : a brief history|year = 2010|publisher = Wiley-Blackwell|isbn = 978-1-4051-8093-1|edition = Second}}</ref><ref>Quran {{Cite quran|85|22|b=n|s=ns}}</ref>

Muslims believe that the present wording of the Quran corresponds to that revealed to Muhammad, and according to their interpretation of Quran <span class="plainlinks">{{Cite quran|15|9|b=n|s=ns}}</span>, it is protected from corruption ("Indeed, it is We who sent down the Quran and indeed, We will be its guardian.").<ref>{{cite book|author1=Mir Sajjad Ali |author2=Zainab Rahman |title=Islam and Indian Muslims|year=2010|publisher=Kalpaz Publications|isbn=978-8178358055|page=21}}</ref> Muslims consider the Quran to be a guide, a sign of the prophethood of Muhammad and the truth of the religion.

===Shia view of the Quran===
{{Main|Shia view of the Quran|History of the Quran}}
The Shīa believe that the Quran was gathered and compiled by Muhammad during his lifetime, rather than being compiled by [[Uthman ibn Affan]].  There are other differences in the way Shias interpret the text.<ref name="Shirazi01">{{cite book |last=Shirazi |first=Muhammad |title=The Qur'an - When was it compiled? |year=2001 |publisher=Fountain Books |location=London,UK}}</ref> Muslims do not agree over whether the Quran was created by God or is eternal and "uncreated".  Sunnis (who make up about 85-90% of Muslims) hold that the Quran is uncreated — a doctrine that has been unchallenged among them for many centuries.  [[Shia]] [[Twelver]]s and [[Zaydi]], and the [[Kharijite]]s — believe the Quran was created.<ref name="Glassé-268">{{cite book|last1=Glassé|first1=Cyril|last2=Smith|first2=Huston|title=The New Encyclopedia of Islam|date=2002|publisher=Rowman Altamira.|page=268|edition=revised, reprinted|url=https://books.google.com/?id=focLrox-frUC&pg=PA268&dq=Uncreatedness+of+the+Quran#v=onepage&q=Uncreatedness%20of%20the%20Quran&f=false|accessdate=7 September 2015|isbn=9780759101906}}</ref> [[Sufi]] philosophers view the question as artificial or wrongly framed.<ref>Henry Corbin, History of Islamic Philosophy (London: Kegan Paul International, 1993): 10.</ref>{{quote needed|date=August 2017}}

===Inimitability===
{{main|I'jaz|Challenge of the Quran}}
Inimitability of the Quran (or "''I'jaz''") is the belief that no human speech can match the Quran in its content and form. The Quran is considered an inimitable miracle by Muslims, effective until the Day of Resurrection—and, thereby, the central proof granted to [[Muhammad]] in authentication of his prophetic status. The concept of inimitability originates in the Quran where in five different verses opponents are challenged to produce something like the Quran: "If men and sprites banded together to produce the like of this Quran they would never produce its like not though they backed one another."<ref>Quran {{Cite quran|17|88|b=n|s=ns}}</ref> From the ninth century, numerous works appeared which studied the Quran and examined its style and content. Medieval Muslim scholars including [[Abd al-Qahir al-Jurjani|al-Jurjani]] (d. 1078) and [[al-Baqillani]] (d. 1013) have written treatises on the subject, discussed its various aspects, and used linguistic approaches to study the Quran. Others argue that the Quran contains noble ideas, has inner meanings, maintained its freshness through the ages and has caused great transformations at the individual level and in history. Some scholars state that the Quran contains scientific information that agrees with modern science. The doctrine of the miraculousness of the Quran is further emphasized by Muhammad's illiteracy since the unlettered prophet could not have been suspected of composing the Quran.<ref name=leaman/><ref name=sophia>{{cite journal|last=Vasalou|first=Sophia|title=The Miraculous Eloquence of the Qur'an: General Trajectories and Individual Approaches|journal=Journal of Qur'anic Studies|year=2002|volume=4|issue=2|pages=23–53|doi=10.3366/jqs.2002.4.2.23}}</ref>

===In worship===
{{See also|Salah}}
[[File:COLLECTIE TROPENMUSEUM Moslimmannen tijdens het gebed op vrijdag in de moskee Tulehu TMnr 20017952.jpg|thumb|While standing in prayers, worshipers recite the first chapter of the Quran, [[al-Fatiha]], followed by any other section.]]
The first sura of the Quran is repeated in daily prayers and in other occasions. This sura, which consists of seven verses, is the most often recited sura of the Quran:<ref name=Britannica />

<blockquote>Praised be God, Lord of the Universe, the Beneficent, the Merciful and Master of the Day of Judgment, You alone We do worship and from You alone we do seek assistance, guide us to the right path, the path of those to whom You have granted blessings, those who are neither subject to Your anger nor have gone astray."<ref>Quran {{Cite quran|1|1|e=7|b=n|s=ns}}</ref></blockquote>

Other sections of the Quran of choice are also read in daily prayers.

Respect for the written text of the Quran is an important element of religious faith by many Muslims, and the Quran is treated with reverence. Based on tradition and a literal interpretation of Quran <span class="plainlinks">{{Cite quran|56|79|b=n|s=ns}}</span> ("none shall touch but those who are clean"), some Muslims believe that they must perform a ritual cleansing with water before touching a copy of the Quran, although this view is not universal.<ref name=Britannica /> Worn-out copies of the Quran are wrapped in a cloth and stored indefinitely in a safe place, buried in a mosque or a Muslim cemetery, or burned and the ashes buried or scattered over water.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/explainer/2012/02/afghan_quran_burning_protests_what_s_the_right_way_to_dispose_of_a_quran_.html|title=Afghan Quran-burning protests: What's the right way to dispose of a Quran?|website=Slate Magazine|date=2012-02-22}}</ref>

In Islam, most intellectual disciplines, including Islamic theology, [[Islamic philosophy|philosophy]], [[Sufism|mysticism]] and [[Fiqh|jurisprudence]], have been concerned with the Quran or have their foundation in its teachings.<ref name=Britannica /> Muslims believe that the preaching or reading of the Quran is rewarded with divine rewards variously called ''ajr'', ''[[Sawab|thawab]]'' or ''hasanat''.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Sengers |first1=Erik|title=Dutch and Their Gods|date=2005|page=129}}</ref>

===In Islamic art===
The Quran also inspired [[Islamic art]]s and specifically the so-called Quranic arts of [[Islamic calligraphy|calligraphy]] and [[Ottoman illumination|illumination]].<ref name=Britannica /> The Quran is never decorated with figurative images, but many Qurans have been highly decorated with decorative patterns in the margins of the page, or between the lines or at the start of suras. Islamic verses appear in many other media, on buildings and on objects of all sizes, such as [[mosque lamp]]s, metal work, [[Islamic pottery|pottery]] and single pages of calligraphy for [[muraqqa]]s or albums.

<gallery widths="210px" heights="210px">
File:Brooklyn Museum - Calligraphy - 3.jpg|[[Calligraphy]], 18th century. [[Brooklyn Museum]].
File:Quran inscriptions on wall, Lodhi Gardens, Delhi.jpg|Quranic inscriptions, [[Bara Gumbad mosque]], Delhi, India.
File:Mosque lamp Met 91.1.1534.jpg|Typical [[mosque lamp]], of [[enamelled glass]], with the ''[[Ayat an-Nur]]'' or "Verse of Light" (24:35).
File:Mausolées du groupe nord (Shah-i-Zinda, Samarcande) (6016470147).jpg|Quranic verses, Shahizinda mausoleum, Samarkand, Uzbekistan.
File:Muhammad ibn Mustafa Izmiri - Right Side of an Illuminated Double-page Incipit - Walters W5771B - Full Page.jpg|Quran page decoration art, Ottoman period.
File:4.8-17-1990-Guld-koranside-recto-og-verso.jpg|The leaves from this Quran written in gold and contoured with brown ink have a horizontal format. This is admirably suited to [[Kufic calligraphy|classical Kufic calligraphy]], which became common under the early [[Abbasid caliphs]].
File:Brooklyn Museum - Manuscript of the Qur'an.jpg|Manuscript of the Quran at the [[Brooklyn Museum]]
</gallery>

==Text and arrangement==
{{Main|Sūrah|Āyah}}
[[File:FirstSurahKoran (fragment).jpg|thumb|upright=1.05|First sura of the Quran, ''[[Al-Fatiha]]'', consisting of seven verses.]]
The Quran consists of 114 chapters of varying lengths, each known as a ''[[sūrah]]''. Chapters are classified as [[Meccan sura|Meccan]] or [[Medinan sura|Medinan]], depending on whether the verses were revealed before or after the [[Hijra (Islam)|migration]] of Muhammad to the city of Medina. However, a sūrah classified as Medinan may contain Meccan verses in it and vice versa. Sūrah titles are derived from a name or quality discussed in the text, or from the first letters or words of the sūrah. Chapters are arranged roughly in order of decreasing size. The sūrah arrangement is thus not connected to the sequence of revelation. Each sūrah except the ninth starts with the ''[[Basmala|Bismillah]]'' ({{lang|ar|بسم&nbsp;الله&nbsp;الرحمن&nbsp;الرحيم}}), an Arabic phrase meaning "In the name of God". There are, however, still 114 occurrences of the ''Bismillah'' in the Quran, due to its presence in <span class="plainlinks">Quran {{Cite quran|27|30|b=n|s=ns}}</span> as the opening of [[Solomon]]'s letter to the [[Queen of Sheba]].<ref>See:
* "Kur`an, al-", ''Encyclopaedia of Islam Online''
* Allen (2000) p. 53</ref>
[[File:Surah95-Tin.png|thumb|upright=1.05|''[[At-Tin]]'' (the fig), 95th sura of the Quran.]]
Each sūrah consists of several verses, known as ''[[āyāt]]'', which originally means a "sign" or "evidence" sent by God. The number of verses differs from sūrah to sūrah. An individual verse may be just a few letters or several lines. The total number of verses in the Quran is 6,236;{{#tag:ref|Scholars disagree on the exact number but this is a disagreement over "the placing of the divisions between the verese, not on the text itself."<ref name=MCKVSI2000:119>[[#MCKVSI2000|Cook, ''The Koran'', 2000]]: pp.119</ref><ref>The Koran; A Very Short Introduction, Michael Cook. Oxford University Press, pp. 119</ref> 
 |group=Note}} however, the number varies if the ''bismillahs'' are counted separately.

In addition to and independent of the division into chapters, there are various ways of dividing the Quran into parts of approximately equal length for convenience in reading. The 30 ''[[juz']]'' (plural ''ajzāʼ'') can be used to read through the entire Quran in a month. Some of these parts are known by names—which are the first few words by which the ''juzʼ'' starts. A ''juz''' is sometimes further divided into two ''[[hizb|ḥizb]]'' (plural ''aḥzāb''), and each ''hizb'' subdivided into four ''rubʻ al-ahzab''. The Quran is also divided into seven approximately equal parts, ''[[manzil]]'' (plural ''manāzil''), for it to be recited in a week.<ref name="Britannica"/>

A different structure is provided by semantical units resembling paragraphs and comprising roughly ten ''āyāt'' each. Such a section is called a [[ruku|rukū`]].

The ''[[Muqattaʿat]]'' ({{lang-ar|حروف مقطعات }} ''ḥurūf muqaṭṭaʿāt'' "disjoined letters" or "disconnected letters";<ref>مقطعات is the plural of a participle from [[:wikt:قطع|قطع]] "to cut, break".</ref> also "mysterious letters") are  combinations of between one and five [[Arabic alphabet|Arabic letters]] figuring at the beginning of 29 out of the 114 chapters of the Quran just after the basmala.<ref name=Massey2005>Massey, Keith. "Mysterious Letters."  in  Jane Dammen McAuliffe (ed.) [[Encyclopaedia of the Qurʾān]]. Vol. 3 (205),  p. 472 ([http://referenceworks.brillonline.com/entries/encyclopaedia-of-the-quran/mysterious-letters-EQCOM_00128 referenceworks.brillonline.com]).</ref> The letters are also known as ''fawātih'' ({{lang|ar|فواتح}}) or "openers" as they form the opening verse of their respective suras. Four surahs are named for their ''muqatta'at'', [[Ta-Ha|''Ṭāʾ-Hāʾ'']], [[Ya Sin|''Yāʾ-Sīn'']], [[Sad (sura)|''Ṣād'']]  and [[Qaf (sura)|'' Qāf'']]. The original significance of the letters is unknown. [[Tafsir]] ([[exegesis]]) has interpreted them as abbreviations for either [[names of God in Islam|names or qualities of God]] or for the names or content of the respective surahs.

According to one estimate the Quran consists of 77,430 words, 18,994 unique words, 12,183 [[Word stem|stems]], 3,382 [[Lemma (morphology)|lemmas]] and 1,685 [[Root (linguistics)|roots]].<ref>{{cite web|last=Dukes|first=Kais|title=RE: Number of Unique Words in the Quran|url=http://www.mail-archive.com/comp-quran@comp.leeds.ac.uk/msg00223.html|website=www.mail-archive.com|accessdate=29 October 2012}}</ref>

==Contents==
{{Main|God in Islam|Prophets and messengers in Islam|Islamic attitudes towards science|Biblical and Quranic narratives|Historical reliability of the Quran}}
The Quranic content is concerned with basic Islamic beliefs including the existence of [[God in Islam|God]] and the [[Islamic eschatology|resurrection]]. Narratives of the early [[Prophets in Islam|prophets]], ethical and legal subjects, historical events of Muhammad's time, charity and [[Salat|prayer]] also appear in the Quran. The Quranic verses contain general exhortations regarding right and wrong and historical events are related to outline general moral lessons. Verses pertaining to natural phenomena have been interpreted by Muslims as an indication of the authenticity of the Quranic message.<ref name=saeed>{{cite book|last=Saeed|first=Abdullah|title=The Qurʼan : an introduction|year=2008|publisher=Routledge|location=London|isbn=9780415421249|page=62}}</ref> The style of the Quran has been called "allusive", with commentaries needed to explain what is being referred to -- "events are referred to, but not narrated; disagreements are debated without being explained; people and places are mentioned, but rarely named."<ref name="Crone-2008">{{cite web |last1=Crone |first1=Patricia |title=What do we actually know about Mohammed? |url=https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/mohammed_3866jsp/ |website=Open Democracy |accessdate=3 October 2019 |date=10 June 2008}}</ref>

===Monotheism===
The central theme of the Quran is [[monotheism]]. God is depicted as living, eternal, omniscient and omnipotent (see, e.g., <span class="plainlinks">Quran {{Cite quran|2|20|b=n|s=ns}}, {{Cite quran|2|29|b=n|s=ns}}, {{Cite quran|2|255|b=n|s=ns}}</span>). God's omnipotence appears above all in his power to create. He is the creator of everything, of the heavens and the earth and what is between them (see, e.g., <span class="plainlinks">Quran {{Cite quran|13|16|b=n|s=ns}},{{Cite quran|2|253|b=n|s=ns}},{{Cite quran|50|38|b=n|s=ns}}, etc.).</span> All human beings are equal in their utter dependence upon God,{{better source|date=December 2016}} and their well-being depends upon their acknowledging that fact and living accordingly.<ref name=watt/><ref name=saeed/>
[[File:Quran rzabasi4.JPG|thumb|A 12th-century Quran manuscript at [[Reza Abbasi Museum]].]]

The Quran uses [[Cosmological argument|cosmological]] and contingency arguments in various verses without referring to the terms to prove the [[existence of God]]. Therefore, the universe is originated and needs an originator, and whatever exists must have a sufficient cause for its existence. Besides, the design of the universe is frequently referred to as a point of contemplation: "It is He who has created seven heavens in harmony. You cannot see any fault in God's creation; then look again: Can you see any flaw?"<span class="plainlinks"><ref>Quran {{Cite quran|67|3|b=n|s=ns}}</ref></span><ref name=leaman/>

===Eschatology===
{{main|Islamic eschatology}}
The doctrine of the last day and [[eschatology]] (the final fate of the universe) may be reckoned as the second great doctrine of the Quran.<ref name=watt/> It is estimated that approximately one-third of the Quran is eschatological, dealing with the afterlife in the next world and with the day of judgment at the end of time.<ref name=rippin/> There is a reference to the afterlife on most pages of the Quran and belief in the afterlife is often referred to in conjunction with belief in God as in the common expression: "Believe in God and the last day".<ref name=haleem>{{cite book|last=Haleem|first=Muhammad Abdel|title=Understanding the Qur'an : themes and style|year=2005|publisher=I.B. Tauris|isbn=9781860646508|page=[https://archive.org/details/understandingqur00abde/page/82 82]|url=https://archive.org/details/understandingqur00abde/page/82}}</ref> A number of [[sura]]s such as 44, 56, 75, 78, 81 and 101 are directly related to the afterlife and its preparations. Some suras indicate the closeness of the event and warn people to be prepared for the imminent day. For instance, the first verses of Sura 22, which deal with the mighty earthquake and the situations of people on that day, represent this style of divine address: "O People! Be respectful to your Lord. The earthquake of the Hour is a mighty thing."<ref name=leaman/>

The Quran is often vivid in its depiction of what will happen at the end time. Watt describes the Quranic view of End Time:<ref name=watt/>
:"The climax of history, when the present world comes to an end, is referred to in various ways. It is 'the Day of Judgment,' 'the Last Day,' 'the Day of Resurrection,' or simply 'the Hour.' Less frequently it is 'the Day of Distinction' (when the good are separated from the evil), 'the Day of the Gathering' (of men to the presence of God) or 'the Day of the Meeting' (of men with God). The Hour comes suddenly. It is heralded by a shout, by a thunderclap, or by the blast of a trumpet. A cosmic upheaval then takes place. The mountains dissolve into dust, the seas boil up, the sun is darkened, the stars fall and the sky is rolled up. God appears as Judge, but his presence is hinted at rather than described. [...] The central interest, of course, is in the gathering of all mankind before the Judge. Human beings of all ages, restored to life, join the throng. To the scoffing objection of the unbelievers that former generations had been dead a long time and were now dust and mouldering bones, the reply is that God is nevertheless able to restore them to life."

The Quran does not assert a natural [[immortality]] of the human [[soul]], since man's existence is dependent on the will of God: when he wills, he causes man to die; and when he wills, he raises him to life again in a bodily [[resurrection]].<ref name=rcmartin/>

===Prophets===
According to the Quran, God communicated with man and made his will known through signs and revelations. [[Prophets in Islam|Prophets]], or 'Messengers of God', received revelations and delivered them to humanity. The message has been identical and for all humankind. "Nothing is said to you that was not said to the messengers before you, that your lord has at his Command forgiveness as well as a most Grievous Penalty."<span class="plainlinks"><ref>Quran {{Cite quran|41|43|b=n|s=ns}}</ref></span> The revelation does not come directly from God to the prophets. Angels acting as God's messengers deliver the divine revelation to them. This comes out in <span class="plainlinks">Quran {{Cite quran|42|51|b=n|s=ns}}</span>, in which it is stated: "It is not for any mortal that God should speak to them, except by revelation, or from behind a veil, or by sending a messenger to reveal by his permission whatsoever He will."<ref name=rippin/><ref name=rcmartin>{{cite book|last=Martin|first=Richard C.|title=Encyclopedia of Islam and the Muslim world|year=2003|publisher=Macmillan Reference|isbn=978-0028656038|pages=568–562 (By Farid Esack)|url=https://books.google.com/books?isbn=0028656032|edition=[Online-Ausg.].}}</ref>

===Ethico-religious concepts===
Belief is a fundamental aspect of morality in the Quran, and scholars have tried to determine the semantic contents of "belief" and "believer" in the Quran.<ref name=toshihiko>{{cite book|last=Izutsu|first=Toshihiko|title=Ethico-religious concepts in the Qur'an|year=2007|publisher=McGill-Queen's University Press|isbn=978-0773524279|page=184|edition=Repr. 2007}}</ref> The ethico-legal concepts and exhortations dealing with righteous conduct are linked to a profound awareness of God, thereby emphasizing the importance of faith, accountability, and the belief in each human's ultimate encounter with God. People are invited to perform acts of charity, especially for the needy. Believers who "spend of their wealth by night and by day, in secret and in public" are promised that they "shall have their reward with their Lord; on them shall be no fear, nor shall they grieve".<span class="plainlinks"><ref>Quran {{Cite quran|2|274|b=n|s=ns}}</ref></span> It also affirms family life by legislating on matters of marriage, divorce, and inheritance. A number of practices, such as usury and gambling, are prohibited. The Quran is one of the fundamental sources of Islamic law (''[[sharia]]''). Some formal religious practices receive significant attention in the Quran including the formal prayers (''[[salat]]'') and fasting in the month of [[Ramadan]]. As for the manner in which the prayer is to be conducted, the Quran refers to prostration.<ref name=jecampo/><ref name=rcmartin/> The term for charity, ''[[zakat]]'', literally means purification. Charity, according to the Quran, is a means of self-purification.<ref name=tsonn/><ref>Quran {{Cite quran|9|103|b=n|s=ns}}</ref>

===Encouragement for the sciences===

The astrophysicist [[Nidhal Guessoum]], while being highly critical of pseudo-scientific claims made about the Quran, has highlighted the encouragement for sciences that the Quran provides by developing "the concept of knowledge."<ref>{{cite book|ref=harv|first=Nidhal |last=Guessoum|title=Islam's Quantum Question: Reconciling Muslim Tradition and Modern Science|page=174|publisher=I.B. Tauris|isbn=978-1848855175|date=2011}}</ref> He writes: "The Qur'an draws attention to the danger of conjecturing without evidence (''And follow not that of which you have not the (certain) knowledge of...'' 17:36) and in several different verses asks Muslims to require proofs (''Say: Bring your proof if you are truthful'' 2:111), both in matters of theological belief and in natural science." Guessoum cites Ghaleb Hasan on the definition of "proof" according the Quran being "clear and strong... convincing evidence or argument." Also, such a proof cannot rely on an [[argument from authority]], citing verse 5:104. Lastly, both assertions and rejections require a proof, according to verse 4:174.<ref>{{cite book|ref=harv|first=Nidhal |last=Guessoum|title=Islam's Quantum Question: Reconciling Muslim Tradition and Modern Science|page=56|publisher=I.B. Tauris|isbn=978-1848855175|date=2011}}</ref> [[Ismail al-Faruqi]] and [[Taha Jabir Alalwani]] are of the view that any reawakening of the Muslim civilization must start with the Quran; however, the biggest obstacle on this route is the "centuries old heritage of tafseer (exegesis) and other classical disciplines" which inhibit a "universal, epidemiological and systematic conception" of the Quran's message.<ref>{{cite book|ref=harv|first=Nidhal |last=Guessoum|title=Islam's Quantum Question: Reconciling Muslim Tradition and Modern Science|pages=117–118|publisher=I.B. Tauris|isbn=978-1848855175|date=2011}}</ref> The philosopher [[Muhammad Iqbal]], considered the Quran's methodology and epistemology to be empirical and rational.<ref>{{cite book|ref=harv|first=Nidhal |last=Guessoum|title=Islam's Quantum Question: Reconciling Muslim Tradition and Modern Science|pages=58–59|publisher=I.B. Tauris|isbn=978-1848855175|date=2011}}</ref>

There are around 750 verses{{which|date=December 2016}} in the Quran dealing with natural phenomena. In many of these verses the study of nature is ''"encouraged and highly recommended"'', and historical Islamic scientists like [[Al-Biruni]] and [[Al-Battani]] derived their inspiration from verses of the Quran.{{additional citation needed|date=December 2016}} [[Mohammad Hashim Kamali]] has stated that "scientific observation, experimental knowledge  and rationality" are the primary tools with which humanity can achieve the goals laid out for it in the Quran.<ref>{{cite book|ref=harv|first=Nidhal |last=Guessoum|title=Islam's Quantum Question: Reconciling Muslim Tradition and Modern Science|page=63|publisher=I.B. Tauris|isbn=978-1848855175|date=2011}}</ref> [[Ziauddin Sardar]] built a case for Muslims having developed the foundations of modern science, by highlighting the repeated calls of the Quran to observe and reflect upon natural phenomenon.<ref>{{cite book|ref=harv|first=Nidhal |last=Guessoum|title=Islam's Quantum Question: Reconciling Muslim Tradition and Modern Science|page=75|publisher=I.B. Tauris|isbn=978-1848855175|date=2011}}</ref>

The physicist [[Abdus Salam]], in his Nobel Prize banquet address, quoted a well known verse from the Quran (67:3–4) and then stated: "This in effect is the faith of all physicists: the deeper we seek, the more is our wonder excited, the more is the dazzlement of our gaze".<ref>{{cite book|ref=harv|first=Nidhal |last=Guessoum|title=Islam's Quantum Question: Reconciling Muslim Tradition and Modern Science|page=131|publisher=I.B. Tauris|isbn=978-1848855175|date=2011}}</ref> One of Salam's core beliefs was that there is no contradiction between Islam and the discoveries that science allows humanity to make about nature and the universe. Salam also held the opinion that the Quran and the Islamic spirit of study and rational reflection was the source of extraordinary civilizational development.<ref>{{cite book|ref=harv|first=Nidhal |last=Guessoum|title=Islam's Quantum Question: Reconciling Muslim Tradition and Modern Science|page=132|publisher=I.B. Tauris|isbn=978-1848855175|date=2011}}</ref> Salam highlights, in particular, the work of [[Alhazen|Ibn al-Haytham]] and [[Al-Biruni]] as the pioneers of empiricism who introduced the experimental approach, breaking with Aristotle's influence and thus giving birth to modern science. Salam was also careful to differentiate between metaphysics and physics, and advised against empirically probing certain matters on which "physics is silent and will remain so," such as the doctrine of "creation from nothing" which in Salam's view is outside the limits of science and thus "gives way" to religious considerations.<ref>{{cite book|ref=harv|first=Nidhal |last=Guessoum|title=Islam's Quantum Question: Reconciling Muslim Tradition and Modern Science|page=134|publisher=I.B. Tauris|isbn=978-1848855175|date=2011}}</ref>

==Literary style==
[[File:Touba3.jpg|thumb|upright=0.9|Boys studying Quran, [[Touba, Senegal]]]]
The Quran's message is conveyed with various literary structures and devices. In the original Arabic, the suras and verses employ [[phonetics|phonetic]] and [[theme (literature)|thematic]] structures that assist the audience's efforts to recall the message of the text. Muslims{{Who|date=February 2010}} assert (according to the Quran itself) that the Quranic content and style is inimitable.<ref name = Issa>[[Issa Boullata]], "Literary Structure of Quran", ''Encyclopedia of the Qurʾān, vol.3 pp. 192, 204</ref>

The language of the Quran has been described as "rhymed prose" as it partakes of both poetry and prose; however, this description runs the risk of failing to convey the rhythmic quality of Quranic language, which is more poetic in some parts and more prose-like in others. Rhyme, while found throughout the Quran, is conspicuous in many of the earlier Meccan suras, in which relatively short verses throw the rhyming words into prominence. The effectiveness of such a form is evident for instance in Sura 81, and there can be no doubt that these passages impressed the conscience of the hearers. Frequently a change of rhyme from one set of verses to another signals a change in the subject of discussion. Later sections also preserve this form but the style is more expository.<ref name=rippin /><ref>[http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/view.jsp?artid=369&letter=K&search=Quran Jewishencyclopedia.com] – Körner, Moses B. Eliezer</ref>

The Quranic text seems to have no beginning, middle, or end, its nonlinear structure being akin to a web or net.<ref name="Britannica"/> The textual arrangement is sometimes considered to exhibit lack of continuity, absence of any chronological or thematic order and repetitiousness.{{#tag:ref|"The final process of collection and codification of the Quran text was guided by one {{sic|?|hide=y|over-|arching}} principle: God's words must not in any way be distorted or sullied by human intervention. For this reason, no serious attempt, apparently, was made to edit the numerous revelations, organize them into thematic units, or present them in chronological order... This has given rise in the past to a great deal of criticism by European and American scholars of Islam, who find the Quran disorganized, repetitive and very difficult to read." <ref name=blomm>''Approaches to the Asian Classics'', Irene Blomm, William Theodore De Bary, Columbia University Press, 1990, p. 65</ref>|group=Note}}{{#tag:ref|Samuel Pepys: "One feels it difficult to see how any mortal ever could consider this Quran as a Book written in Heaven, too good for the Earth; as a well-written book, or indeed as a book at all; and not a bewildered rhapsody; written, so far as writing goes, as badly as almost any book ever was!" <ref name=pepys>{{cite web |url=http://maxwellinstitute.byu.edu/display.php?table=review&id=21 |title=Archived copy |accessdate=2013-09-30 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20130518213253/http://maxwellinstitute.byu.edu/display.php?table=review&id=21 |archivedate=18 May 2013 |df=dmy-all }}</ref>|group=Note}} [[Michael Sells]], citing the work of the critic [[Norman O. Brown]], acknowledges Brown's observation that the seeming disorganization of Quranic literary expression—its scattered or fragmented mode of composition in Sells's phrase—is in fact a literary device capable of delivering profound effects as if the intensity of the prophetic message were shattering the vehicle of human language in which it was being communicated.<ref name = ApproachQuran>Michael Sells, ''Approaching the Qur'ān'' (White Cloud Press, 1999)</ref><ref>Norman O. Brown, "The Apocalypse of Islam". ''Social Text'' 3:8 (1983–1984)</ref> Sells also addresses the much-discussed repetitiveness of the Quran, seeing this, too, as a literary device.

A text is [[Self-reference|self-referential]] when it speaks about itself and makes reference to itself. According to Stefan Wild, the Quran demonstrates this [[metatextuality]] by explaining, classifying, interpreting and justifying the words to be transmitted. Self-referentiality is evident in those passages where the Quran refers to itself as revelation (''tanzil''), remembrance (''dhikr''), news (''naba'''), criterion (''furqan'') in a self-designating manner (explicitly asserting its Divinity, "And this is a blessed Remembrance that We have sent down; so are you now denying it?"),<ref>Quran {{Cite quran|21|50|b=n|s=ns}}</ref> or in the frequent appearance of the "Say" tags, when Muhammad is commanded to speak (e.g., "Say: 'God's guidance is the true guidance'", "Say: 'Would you then dispute with us concerning God?'"). According to Wild the Quran is highly self-referential. The feature is more evident in early Meccan suras.<ref>{{cite book|last=Wild|first=ed. by Stefan|title=Self-referentiality in the Qur'an|year=2006|publisher=Harrassowitz|location=Wiesbaden|isbn=978-3447053839}}</ref>

==Interpretation==
{{Main|Tafsir}}
[[File:Tapurian Qur'an (Al-Kusar).PNG|thumb|upright=1.25|An early interpretation of Sura 108 of the Quran]]
The Quran has sparked a huge body of commentary and explication (''tafsir''), aimed at explaining the "meanings of the Quranic verses, clarifying their import and finding out their significance".<ref name="auto1">{{cite web|url=http://www.almizan.org/|title=Tafsir Al-Mizan|website=almizan.org}}</ref>

Tafsir is one of the earliest academic activities of Muslims. According to the Quran, Muhammad was the first person who described the meanings of verses for early Muslims.<ref>{{Cite quran|2|151|style=nosup}}</ref> Other early exegetes included a few [[Companions of Muhammad]], such as [[Abu Bakr]], [[Umar|'Umar ibn al-Khattab]], [[Uthman|'Uthman ibn 'Affan]], ʻ[[Ali ibn Abi Talib]], [[Abdullah ibn Masud|'Abdullah ibn Mas'ood]], ʻ[[Abdullah ibn Abbas]], [[Ubayy ibn Kab|Ubayy ibn Kaʻb]], [[Zayd ibn Thabit|Zayd ibn Thaabit]], [[Abu Musa al-Ash'ari|Abu Moosaa al-Ash’ari]], and [[Abd Allah ibn al-Zubayr|‘Abdullah ibn al-Zubayr]].<ref>{{Cite book|last=بازمول|first=محمد|title=التهذيب والترتيب الاتقان في علوم القرآن|publisher=|year=|isbn=|location=|pages=525}}</ref> Exegesis in those days was confined to the explanation of literary aspects of the verse, the background of its revelation and, occasionally, interpretation of one verse with the help of the other. If the verse was about a historical event, then sometimes a few traditions (''[[hadith]]'') of Muhammad were narrated to make its meaning clear.<ref name="auto1"/>

Because the Quran is spoken in [[classical Arabic]], many of the later converts to Islam (mostly non-Arabs) did not always understand the Quranic Arabic, they did not catch allusions that were clear to early Muslims fluent in Arabic and they were concerned with reconciling apparent conflict of themes in the Quran. Commentators erudite in Arabic explained the allusions, and perhaps most importantly, explained which Quranic verses had been revealed early in Muhammad's prophetic career, as being appropriate to the very earliest Muslim community, and which had been revealed later, canceling out or "[[naskh (exegesis)|abrogating]]" (''nāsikh'') the earlier text (''mansūkh'').<ref>{{cite web|url=http://qa.sunnipath.com/issue_view.asp?HD=7&ID=2656&CATE=1|title=How can there be abrogation in the Quran?|publisher=|url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20080608024345/http://qa.sunnipath.com/issue_view.asp?HD=7&ID=2656&CATE=1|archivedate=8 June 2008|df=dmy-all}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.mostmerciful.com/abrogation-and-substitution.htm|title=Are the verses of the Qur'an Abrogated and/or Substituted?|website=mostmerciful.com|url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20080501101528/http://www.mostmerciful.com/abrogation-and-substitution.htm|archivedate=1 May 2008|df=dmy-all}}</ref> Other scholars, however, maintain that no abrogation has taken place in the Quran.<ref>{{cite web|last=Islahi|first=Amin Ahsan|title=Abrogation in the Qur'ān|url=http://www.monthly-renaissance.com/issue/content.aspx?id=426|website=Renaissance Journal|accessdate=26 April 2013}}</ref> The [[Ahmadiyya Muslim Community]] has published a ten-volume Urdu commentary on the Quran, with the name ''Tafseer e Kabir''.<ref>{{cite book|author=Mirza Bashiruddin Mahmood Ahmad |url=https://archive.org/details/TafseerKabeerMirzaBashiruddinMahmoodAhmad |title=Tafseer-e-Kabeer Urdu Vol. 1 |format=PDF |date= |accessdate=2016-08-26}}</ref> Following this commentary, a five volume English commentary was also published as [[The English Commentary of the Holy Quran]].<ref>{{cite web|author=Ahmadiyya Muslim Community |url=https://www.alislam.org/quran/tafseer/guide.htm?region=E1 |title=  English with 5 Volume Commentary  |format=PDF |date= |accessdate=2018-06-08}}</ref>

===Esoteric interpretation===

{{Main|Esoteric interpretation of the Quran}}
Esoteric or [[sufism|Sufi]] interpretation attempts to unveil the inner meanings of the Quran. Sufism moves beyond the apparent (''zahir'') point of the verses and instead relates Quranic verses to the inner or esoteric (''batin'') and metaphysical dimensions of consciousness and existence.<ref name=alangodlas>{{cite book|last=Godlas|first=Alan|title=The Blackwell companion to the Qur'an|year=2008|publisher=Wiley-Blackwell|isbn=978-1405188203|pages=350–362|edition=Pbk.}}</ref> According to Sands, esoteric interpretations are more suggestive than declarative, they are allusions (''isharat'') rather than explanations (''tafsir''). They indicate possibilities as much as they demonstrate the insights of each writer.<ref name=kristin>{{cite book|last=Sands|first=Kristin Zahra|title=Sufi commentaries on the Qur'an in classical Islam|year=2006|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-0415366854|edition=1. publ., transferred to digital print.}}</ref>

Sufi interpretation, according to Annabel Keeler, also exemplifies the use of the theme of love, as for instance can be seen in Qushayri's interpretation of the Quran. <span class="plainlinks">Quran {{Cite quran|7|143|b=n|s=ns}}</span> says:

{{bquote|when Moses came at the time we appointed, and his Lord spoke to him, he said, 'My Lord, show yourself to me! Let me see you!' He said, 'you shall not see me but look at that mountain, if it remains standing firm you will see me.' When his Lord revealed Himself to the mountain, He made it crumble. Moses fell down unconscious. When he recovered, he said, 'Glory be to you! I repent to you! I am the first to believe!'}}

Moses, in 7:143, comes the way of those who are in love, he asks for a vision but his desire is denied, he is made to suffer by being commanded to look at other than the Beloved while the mountain is able to see God. The mountain crumbles and Moses faints at the sight of God's manifestation upon the mountain. In Qushayri's words, Moses came like thousands of men who traveled great distances, and there was nothing left to Moses of Moses. In that state of annihilation from himself, Moses was granted the unveiling of the realities. From the Sufi point of view, God is the always the beloved and the wayfarer's longing and suffering lead to realization of the truths.<ref name=keeler>{{cite journal|last=Keeler|first=Annabel|title=Sufi ''tafsir'' as a Mirror: al-Qushayri the murshid in his Lataif al-isharat|journal=Journal of Qur'anic Studies|year=2006|volume=8|issue=1|pages=1–21|doi=10.3366/jqs.2006.8.1.1}}</ref>
[[File:Men reading the Koran in Umayyad Mosque, Damascus, Syria.jpg|thumb|left|Men reading the Quran at the Umayyad Mosque, [[Damascus, Syria]]]]
[[Muhammad Husayn Tabatabaei]] says that according to the popular explanation among the later exegetes, ''ta'wil'' indicates the particular meaning a verse is directed towards. The meaning of revelation (''[[tanzil]]''), as opposed to ''ta'wil'', is clear in its accordance to the obvious meaning of the words as they were revealed. But this explanation has become so widespread that, at present, it has become the primary meaning of ''ta'wil'', which originally meant "to return" or "the returning place". In Tabatabaei's view, what has been rightly called ''ta'wil'', or hermeneutic interpretation of the Quran, is not concerned simply with the denotation of words. Rather, it is concerned with certain truths and realities that transcend the comprehension of the common run of men; yet it is from these truths and realities that the principles of doctrine and the practical injunctions of the Quran issue forth. Interpretation is not the meaning of the verse—rather it transpires through that meaning, in a special sort of transpiration. There is a spiritual reality—which is the main objective of ordaining a law, or the basic aim in describing a divine attribute—and then there is an actual significance that a Quranic story refers to.<ref name="Ta'wil">[http://almizan.org/new/special/principles.asp Tabataba'I, Tafsir Al-Mizan, The Principles of Interpretation of the Quran]  {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081201023355/http://almizan.org/new/special/principles.asp |date=1 December 2008 }}</ref><ref name="The Meaning">[http://almizan.org/Discourses/QD21.asp Tabataba'I, Tafsir Al-Mizan, Topic: Decisive and Ambiguous verses and "ta'wil"]  {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081208164643/http://almizan.org/Discourses/QD21.asp |date=8 December 2008 }}</ref>
[[File:عکس های مراسم ترتیل خوانی یا جزء خوانی یا قرائت قرآن در ایام ماه رمضان در حرم فاطمه معصومه در شهر قم 20.jpg|thumb|250px|[[Shia]] Muslim girls reciting the Quran during [[Ramadan]] in [[Qom]], [[Iran]]]]
According to Shia beliefs, those who are firmly rooted in knowledge like Muhammad and the imams know the secrets of the Quran. According to Tabatabaei, the statement "none knows its interpretation except God" remains valid, without any opposing or qualifying clause.<ref>Quran {{Cite quran|3|7|b=n|s=ns}}</ref> Therefore, so far as this verse is concerned, the knowledge of the Quran's interpretation is reserved for God. But Tabatabaei uses other verses and concludes that those who are purified by God know the interpretation of the Quran to a certain extent.<ref name="The Meaning"/>

According to [[Muhammad Husayn Tabatabaei|Tabatabaei]], there are acceptable and unacceptable esoteric interpretations. Acceptable ''[[ta'wil]]'' refers to the meaning of a verse beyond its literal meaning; rather the implicit meaning, which ultimately is known only to [[God]] and can't be comprehended directly through human thought alone. The verses in question here refer to the human qualities of coming, going, sitting, satisfaction, anger and sorrow, which are apparently attributed to [[God in Islam|God]]. Unacceptable ''ta'wil'' is where one "transfers" the apparent meaning of a verse to a different meaning by means of a proof; this method is not without obvious inconsistencies. Although this unacceptable ''ta'wil'' has gained considerable acceptance, it is incorrect and cannot be applied to the Quranic verses. The correct interpretation is that reality a verse refers to. It is found in all verses, the decisive and the ambiguous alike; it is not a sort of a meaning of the word; it is a fact that is too sublime for words. God has dressed them with words to bring them a bit nearer to our minds; in this respect they are like proverbs that are used to create a picture in the mind, and thus help the hearer to clearly grasp the intended idea.<ref name="The Meaning"/><ref name="Tabatabaee">{{cite web|url=http://www.maaref-foundation.com/english/beliefs/quran/05.htm|title=Tabatabaee (1988), pp. 37–45|website=maaref-foundation.com}}</ref>

====History of Sufi commentaries====
One of the notable authors of esoteric interpretation prior to the 12th century is Sulami (d. 1021) without whose work the majority of very early Sufi commentaries would not have been preserved. Sulami's major commentary is a book named ''haqaiq al-tafsir'' ("Truths of Exegesis") which is a compilation of commentaries of earlier Sufis. From the 11th century onwards several other works appear, including commentaries by Qushayri (d. 1074), Daylami (d. 1193), Shirazi (d. 1209) and Suhrawardi (d. 1234). These works include material from Sulami's books plus the author's contributions. Many works are written in Persian such as the works of Maybudi (d. 1135) ''kashf al-asrar'' ("the unveiling of the secrets").<ref name=alangodlas/> [[Rumi]] (d. 1273) wrote a vast amount of mystical poetry in his book ''[[Masnavi|Mathnawi]]''. Rumi makes heavy use of the Quran in his poetry, a feature that is sometimes omitted in translations of Rumi's work. A large number of Quranic passages can be found in ''Mathnawi'', which some consider a kind of Sufi interpretation of the Quran. Rumi's book is not exceptional for containing citations from and elaboration on the Quran, however, Rumi does mention Quran more frequently.<ref name=jmojaddedi>{{cite book|last=Mojaddedi|first=Jawid|title=The Blackwell companion to the Qur'an|year=2008|publisher=Wiley-Blackwell|isbn=978-1405188203|pages=363–373|edition=Pbk.}}</ref> Simnani (d. 1336) wrote two influential works of esoteric exegesis on the Quran. He reconciled notions of God's manifestation through and in the physical world with the sentiments of Sunni Islam.<ref name=jelias>{{cite journal|last=Elias|first=Jamal|title=Sufi ''tafsir'' Reconsidered: Exploring the Development of a Genre|journal=Journal of Qur'anic Studies|year=2010|volume=12|issue=1–2|pages=41–55|doi=10.3366/jqs.2010.0104}}</ref> Comprehensive Sufi commentaries appear in the 18th century such as the work of Ismail Hakki Bursevi (d. 1725). His work ''ruh al-Bayan'' (the Spirit of Elucidation) is a voluminous exegesis. Written in Arabic, it combines the author's own ideas with those of his predecessors (notably Ibn Arabi and [[Al-Ghazali|Ghazali]]).<ref name=jelias/>

===Levels of meaning===
[[File:Quran rzabasi1.JPG|thumb|9th-century Quran in [[Reza Abbasi Museum]]]] [[File:IslamicGalleryBritishMuseum3.jpg|thumb| An 11th-century North African Quran at the [[British Museum]] ]]
Unlike the Salafis and Zahiri, Shias and Sufis as well as some other [[Islamic philosophy|Muslim philosophers]] believe the meaning of the Quran is not restricted to the literal aspect.<ref name="Corbin 1993, p. 7">Corbin (1993), p. 7</ref> For them, it is an essential idea that the Quran also has inward aspects. [[Henry Corbin]] narrates a ''[[hadith]]'' that goes back to [[Muhammad]]:

<blockquote>The Quran possesses an external appearance and a hidden depth, an exoteric meaning and an esoteric meaning. This esoteric meaning in turn conceals an esoteric meaning (this depth possesses a depth, after the image of the celestial Spheres, which are enclosed within each other). So it goes on for seven esoteric meanings (seven depths of hidden depth).<ref name="Corbin 1993, p. 7"/></blockquote>

According to this view, it has also become evident that the inner meaning of the Quran does not eradicate or invalidate its outward meaning. Rather, it is like the soul, which gives life to the body.<ref>[http://www.almizan.org/new/special/Aspects.asp Tabatabaee, Tafsir Al-Mizan]  {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080705110108/http://www.almizan.org/new/special/Aspects.asp |date=5 July 2008 }}</ref> Corbin considers the Quran to play a part in [[Islamic philosophy]], because [[gnosiology]] itself goes hand in hand with [[prophet#Islam|prophetology]].<ref>Corbin (1993), p. 13</ref>

Commentaries dealing with the ''[[Zahir (Islam)|zahir]]'' (outward aspects) of the text are called ''tafsir'', and hermeneutic and esoteric commentaries dealing with the ''[[Batin (Islam)|batin]]'' are called ''[[Esoteric interpretation of the Quran|ta'wil]]'' ("interpretation" or "explanation"), which involves taking the text back to its beginning. Commentators with an esoteric slant believe that the ultimate meaning of the Quran is known only to God.<ref name="Britannica"/> In contrast, [[Quranic literalism]], followed by [[Salafis]] and [[Zahiri]]s, is the belief that the Quran should only be taken at its apparent meaning.{{citation needed|date=February 2015}}

===Reappropriation===
Reappropriation is the name of the [[hermeneutical]] style of some ex-Muslims who have converted to Christianity. Their style or reinterpretation is ad hoc and unsystematized and geared towards [[apologetics]]. This tradition of interpretation draws on the following practices: grammatical renegotiation, renegotiation of textual preference, retrieval, and concession.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Miller|first1=Duane Alexander|title=Reappropriation: An Accommodationist Hermeneutic of Islamic Christianity|journal=St Francis Magazine|date=June 2009|volume=5|issue=3|pages=30–33|url=https://www.academia.edu/1482551|accessdate=17 December 2014}}</ref>

==Translations==
{{Main|Quran translations}}
{{See also|List of translations of the Quran}}
Translating the Quran has always been problematic and difficult. Many argue that the Quranic text cannot be reproduced in another language or form.<ref name="slate">{{cite web | accessdate=21 November 2008 | url=http://www.slate.com/id/2204849/?from=rss | website=[[Slate (magazine)|Slate]] | last=Aslan | first=Reza | title=How To Read the Quran | date=20 November 2008}}</ref> Furthermore, an Arabic word may have a [[Polysemy|range of meanings]] depending on the context, making an accurate translation even more difficult.<ref name =leaman />

Nevertheless, the Quran has been [[translation|translated]] into most [[Africa]]n, [[Asia]]n, and [[Europe]]an languages.<ref name =leaman /> The first translator of the Quran was [[Salman the Persian]], who translated surat ''[[al-Fatiha]]'' into [[Persian language|Persian]] during the seventh century.<ref>An-Nawawi, Al-Majmu', (Cairo, Matba‘at at-Tadamun n.d.), 380.</ref> Another translation of the Quran was completed in 884 in Alwar ([[Sindh]], [[India]], now [[Pakistan]]) by the orders of Abdullah bin Umar bin Abdul Aziz on the request of the Hindu Raja Mehruk.<ref>{{cite web|title=English Translations of the Quran|date=July 2009 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20140429213509/http://www.monthlycrescent.com/understanding-the-quran/english-translations-of-the-quran/|archivedate=29 April 2014 |url=http://www.monthlycrescent.com/understanding-the-quran/english-translations-of-the-quran/|publisher=Monthlycrescent.com}}</ref>

The first fully attested complete translations of the Quran were done between the 10th and 12th centuries in [[Persian language|Persian]]. The [[Samanid Empire|Samanid]] king, [[Mansur I]] (961–976), ordered a group of scholars from [[Greater Khorasan|Khorasan]] to translate the [[Tafsir al-Tabari]], originally in Arabic, into Persian. Later in the 11th century, one of the students of [[Khwaja Abdullah Ansari|Abu Mansur Abdullah al-Ansari]] wrote a complete ''[[tafsir]]'' of the Quran in Persian. In the 12th century, [[Abu Hafs Omar al-Nasafi|Najm al-Din Abu Hafs al-Nasafi]] translated the Quran into Persian. The manuscripts of all three books have survived and have been published several times.{{citation needed|date=February 2015}}

Islamic tradition also holds that translations were made for Emperor Negus of Abyssinia and Byzantine Emperor [[Heraclius]], as both [[Muhammad's letters to the Heads-of-State|received letters by Muhammad]] containing verses from the Quran.<ref name = leaman /> In early centuries, the permissibility of translations was not an issue, but whether one could use translations in prayer.{{citation needed|date=February 2015}}

In 1936, translations in 102 languages were known.<ref name =leaman /> In 2010, the ''[[Hürriyet Daily News and Economic Review]]'' reported that the Quran was presented in 112 languages at the 18th International Quran Exhibition in Tehran.<ref>{{Cite news
|title = More than 300 publishers visit Quran exhibition in Iran
|pages =
|newspaper = Hürriyet Daily News and Economic Review
|date = 12 August 2010
|url =http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/n.php?n=more-than-300-publishers-visit-koran-exhibition-in-iran-2010-08-12
|accessdate = <!-----12 August 2010----->
}}</ref>

[[Robert of Ketton]]'s 1143 translation of the Quran for [[Peter the Venerable]], ''[[Lex Mahumet pseudoprophete]]'', was the first into a Western language ([[Latin]]).<ref>{{cite book |last= Bloom | first= Jonathan |author2=Blair, Sheila  | year=2002 | title=Islam: A Thousand Years of Faith and Power |url= https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780300094220 |url-access= registration | publisher=Yale University Press | location=New Haven | page=[https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780300094220/page/42 42]}}</ref>
[[Alexander Ross (writer)|Alexander Ross]] offered the first English version in 1649, from the French translation of ''[[L'Alcoran de Mahomet]]'' (1647) by [[Andre du Ryer]]. In 1734, [[George Sale]] produced the first scholarly translation of the Quran into English; another was produced by [[Richard Bell (Arabist)|Richard Bell]] in 1937, and yet another by [[Arthur John Arberry]] in 1955. All these translators were non-Muslims. There have been numerous translations by Muslims. The [[Ahmadiyya Muslim Community]] has published translations of the Quran in 50 different languages<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.alislam.org/library/links/translations.html|title=Ahmadiyya Muslim Community|website=alislam.org}}</ref> besides a [[The English Commentary of the Holy Quran|five-volume English commentary]] and an [[The Holy Quran - Arabic Text and English translation|English translation of the Quran]].<ref>{{cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/TafseerEngCommQuranLong|website=us.archive.org|title=Quran}}</ref>

As with translations of the Bible, the English translators have sometimes favored archaic English words and constructions over their more modern or conventional equivalents; for example, two widely read translators, [[Abdullah Yusuf Ali|A. Yusuf Ali]] and [[Marmaduke Pickthall]], use the plural and singular "ye" and "thou" instead of the more common "[[you]]".<ref>{{cite web|title=Surah 3 – Read Quran Online|url=http://readquranonline.info/surah003.html|accessdate=21 November 2010|url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20101118015724/http://www.readquranonline.info/surah003.html|archivedate=18 November 2010|df=dmy-all}}</ref>  In Saudi Arabia, ''The Presidency of Islamic Researches'', has modified the original Yusuf Ali translation.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.learnreligions.com/top-english-translations-of-the-quran-2004604  |title=4 Top English Translations of the Quran |date=15 June 2019|work=learnreligions.com|accessdate=15 April 2020}}</ref>

The oldest Gurumukhi translation of the Quran Sharif in [[Gurmukhi]] has been found in village [[Lande, Punjab|Lande]]<!--Also spelled Landhe--> of [[Moga district]] of Punjab which was printed in 1911.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.tribuneindia.com/news/punjab/gurmukhi-translation-of-quran-traced-to-moga-village/232193.html |title=Gurmukhi translation of Quran traced to Moga village |publisher=Tribuneindia.com |date=2016-05-05 |accessdate=2016-08-26}}</ref>

<gallery mode="packed" widths="200px" heights="200px">
File:Ilkhanid Quran.jpg|Arabic Quran with interlinear Persian translation from the [[Ilkhanate|Ilkhanid]] Era.
File:Alcoran de Mahomet 1647.jpg|The first printed Quran in a European vernacular language: ''[[L'Alcoran de Mahomet]]'', [[André du Ryer]], 1647.
File:Koran by Megerlein 1772.jpg|Title page of the first German translation (1772) of the Quran.
File:Chinese quran.jpg|Verses 33 and 34 of surat [[Ya Sin|Yā Sīn]] in this Chinese translation of the Quran.
</gallery>

==Recitation==
===Rules of recitation===
{{See also|Tajwid}}
The proper recitation of the Quran is the subject of a separate discipline named ''[[tajwid]]'' which determines in detail how the Quran should be recited, how each individual syllable is to be pronounced, the need to pay attention to the places where there should be a pause, to [[elision]]s, where the pronunciation should be long or short, where letters should be sounded together and where they should be kept separate, etc. It may be said that this discipline studies the laws and methods of the proper recitation of the Quran and covers three main areas: the proper pronunciation of [[consonant]]s and [[vowel]]s (the articulation of the Quranic [[phoneme]]s), the rules of pause in recitation and of resumption of recitation, and the musical and melodious features of recitation.<ref name=leaman/>

In order to avoid incorrect pronunciation, reciters who are not native speakers of Arabic language follow a program of training in countries such as Egypt or Saudi Arabia. The recitations of a few Egyptian reciters were highly influential in the development of the art of recitation. Southeast Asia is well known for world-class recitation, evidenced in the popularity of the woman reciters such as [[Maria Ulfah]] of [[Jakarta]].<ref name=leaman/>

There are two types of recitation: ''murattal'' is at a slower pace, used for study and practice. ''[[Mujawwad]]'' refers to a slow recitation that deploys heightened technical artistry and melodic modulation, as in public performances by trained experts. It is directed to and dependent upon an audience for the ''mujawwad'' reciter seeks to involve the listeners.<ref name=nelson>{{cite book|last=Nelson|first=Kristina|title=The art of reciting the Qur'an|year=2001|publisher=American Univ. in Cairo Press|location=Cairo [u.a.]|isbn=978-9774245947|edition=New}}</ref>

===Variant readings===
{{See also|Qira'at}}
[[File:Qur'an folio 11th century kufic.jpg|thumb|upright=1.15|Page of the Quran with vocalization marks]]
Vocalization markers indicating specific vowel sounds ([[Arabic diacritics|tashkeel]]) were introduced into the text of the Qur'an during the lifetimes of the last [[Companions of the Prophet|Sahabah]].<ref name=":0" /> The first Quranic manuscripts lacked these marks, enabling multiple possible recitations to be conveyed by the same written text. The 10th-century Muslim scholar from [[Baghdad]], [[Abu Bakr Ibn Mujāhid|Ibn Mujāhid]], is famous for establishing seven acceptable textual readings of the Quran. He studied various readings and their trustworthiness and chose seven 8th-century readers from the cities of [[Mecca]], [[Medina]], [[Kufa]], [[Basra]] and [[Damascus]]. Ibn Mujahid did not explain why he chose seven readers, rather than six or ten, but this may be related to a prophetic tradition (Muhammad's saying) reporting that the Quran had been revealed in seven "''ahruf''" (meaning seven letters or modes). Today, the most popular readings are those transmitted by [[Hafs|Ḥafṣ]] (d. 796) and [[Warsh]] (d. 812) which are according to two of Ibn Mujahid's reciters, [[Aasim ibn Abi al-Najud]] (Kufa, d. 745) and [[Nafi‘ al-Madani]] (Medina, d. 785), respectively. The influential standard Quran of Cairo (1924) uses an elaborate system of modified vowel-signs and a set of additional symbols for minute details and is based on ʻAsim's recitation, the 8th-century recitation of Kufa. This edition has become the standard for modern printings of the Quran.<ref name=rippin/><ref name=melchert2>{{cite journal|last=Melchert|first=Christopher|title=Ibn Mujahid and the Establishment of Seven Qur'anic Readings|journal=Studia Islamica|year=2000|issue=91|pages=5–22|doi=10.2307/1596266|jstor=1596266}}</ref>

The variant readings of the Quran are one type of textual variant.<ref name=rippin /><ref>{{Cite book| last = Small| first = Keith E.| publisher = Lexington Books| isbn = 9780739142912| title = Textual Criticism and Qur'an Manuscripts| date = 2011 |ref=harv |pages=109–111}}</ref> According to Melchert, the majority of disagreements have to do with vowels to supply, most of them in turn not conceivably reflecting dialectal differences and about one in eight disagreements has to do with whether to place dots above or below the line.<ref name=Melchert>{{cite journal|last=Melchert|first=Christopher|title=The Relation of the Ten Readings to One Another|journal=Journal of Quranic Studies|year=2008|volume=10|issue=2|pages=73–87|doi=10.3366/e1465359109000424}}</ref>

Nasser categorizes variant readings into various subtypes, including internal vowels, long vowels, [[gemination]] ([[shaddah]]), [[Assimilation (linguistics)|assimilation]] and [[Alternation (linguistics)|alternation]].<ref name=nasser>{{cite book|last=Hekmat Nasser|first=Shady|title=The Transmission of the Variant Readings of the Quran: The Problem of Tawatur and the Emergence of Shawdhdh|year=2012|publisher=Brill Academic Pub|isbn=978-9004240810}}</ref>

Occasionally, an early Quran shows compatibility with a particular reading. A Syrian manuscript from the 8th century is shown to have been written according to the reading of [[Ibn Amir ad-Dimashqi]].<ref name=dutton>{{cite journal|last=Dutton|first=Yasin|title=An Early Mushaf According To The Reading Of Ibn ʻAmir|journal=Journal of Qur'anic Studies|year=2001|volume=3|issue=2|pages=71–89|doi=10.3366/jqs.2001.3.1.71}}</ref> Another study suggests that this manuscript bears the vocalization of [[homs|himsi]] region.<ref name=rabb>{{cite journal|last=Rabb|first=Intisar|title=Non-Canonical Readings of the Qur'an: Recognition and Authenticity (The Ḥimṣī Reading)|journal=Journal of Qur'anic Studies|year=2006|volume=8|issue=2|pages=88–127|doi=10.3366/jqs.2006.8.2.84}}</ref>

==Writing and printing==
===Writing===
{{main|Islamic calligraphy}}
Before printing was widely adopted in the 19th century, the Quran was transmitted in manuscripts made by [[Islamic calligraphy|calligraphers]] and copyists. The earliest manuscripts were written in ''[[Hijazi script|Ḥijāzī]]''-type script. The ''Hijazi'' style manuscripts nevertheless confirm that transmission of the Quran in writing began at an early stage. Probably in the ninth century, scripts began to feature thicker strokes, which are traditionally known as ''[[Kufic]]'' scripts. Toward the end of the ninth century, new scripts began to appear in copies of the Quran and replace earlier scripts. The reason for discontinuation in the use of the earlier style was that it took too long to produce and the demand for copies was increasing. Copyists would therefore choose simpler writing styles. Beginning in the 11th century, the styles of writing employed were primarily the ''[[Naskh (script)|naskh]]'', ''[[muhaqqaq]]'', ''[[Reyhan (script)|rayḥānī]]'' and, on rarer occasions, the ''[[thuluth]]'' script. ''Naskh'' was in very widespread use. In North Africa and Spain, the ''[[Maghrebi script|Maghribī]]'' style was popular. More distinct is the ''Bihari'' script which was used solely in the north of India. ''[[Nastaʿlīq script|Nastaʻlīq]]'' style was also rarely used in Persian world.<ref name=rippin/><ref>Peter G. Riddell, Tony Street, Anthony Hearle Johns, [https://books.google.com/books?id=H3nHpsDBm6QC&pg=PA170 ''Islam: essays on scripture, thought and society : a festschrift in honour of Anthony H. Johns''], pp. 170–174, Brill, 1997, {{ISBN|978-90-04-10692-5}}</ref>

In the beginning, the Quran was not written with dots or [[Arabic diacritics|tashkeel]]. These features were added to the text during the lifetimes of the last of the [[Companions of the Prophet|Sahabah]].<ref name=":0">{{Cite book|last=ابن تيمية|first=أحمد|title=مجموع الفتاوى|publisher=|year=|isbn=|location=|pages=12/576}}</ref> Since it would have been too costly for most Muslims to purchase a manuscript, copies of the Quran were held in mosques in order to make them accessible to people. These copies frequently took the form of a series of 30 parts or ''juzʼ''. In terms of productivity, the Ottoman copyists provide the best example. This was in response to widespread demand, unpopularity of printing methods and for aesthetic reasons.<ref>Suraiya Faroqhi, [https://books.google.com/books?id=cQ8ZLZh9WjwC&pg=PA95 ''Subjects of the Sultan: culture and daily life in the Ottoman Empire''], pp. 134–136, I.B. Tauris, 2005, {{ISBN|978-1-85043-760-4}}, {{ISBN|978-1-85043-760-4}};[https://books.google.com/books?id=PvwUAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA803 The Encyclopaedia of Islam: Fascicules 111–112 : Masrah Mawlid], Clifford Edmund Bosworth</ref>
<gallery mode="packed" widths="200px" heights="200px">
File:Brooklyn Museum - Folio from the "Blue" Qur'an.jpg|Folio from the "Blue" Quran. [[Brooklyn Museum]].
File:Folio from a Koran (8th-9th century).jpg|''kufic'' script, Eighth or ninth century.
File:Qur'anic Manuscript - Maghribi script.jpg|''maghribi'' script, 13th–14th centuries.
File:Muhaqqaq script.gif|''muhaqaq'' script, 14th–15th centuries.
File:Shikastah script.jpg|''shikasta nastaliq'' script, 18th–19th centuries.
</gallery>

===Printing===
[[File:Quran divided into 6 books.jpg|thumb|Quran divided into 6 books. Published by Dar Ibn Kathir, Damascus-Beirut]]
[[Woodcut|Wood-block printing]] of extracts from the Quran is on record as early as the 10th century.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.muslimheritage.com/topics/default.cfm?ArticleID=940|title=Muslim Printing Before Gutenberg|website=muslimheritage.com}}</ref>

Arabic [[movable type]] printing was ordered by [[Pope Julius II]] (r. 1503–1512) for distribution among [[Middle Eastern Christians]].<ref>{{harvnb|Krek|1979|p=203}}</ref> The first complete Quran printed with movable type was produced in [[Venice]] in 1537/1538 for the [[Ottoman Empire|Ottoman]] market by [[Paganino Paganini]] and Alessandro Paganini.<ref>[http://www.historyofinformation.com/expanded.php?id=405 First Printed Edition of the Qur'an]
[http://www.bible-quran.com/complete-arabic-quran-movable-type/ The First Printed Complete Arabic Quran]
[http://www.saudiaramcoworld.com/issue/200802/east.meets.west.in.venice.htm East Meets West In Venice: The First-Ever Printed Arabic Edition Of Quran] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131102232102/http://www.saudiaramcoworld.com/issue/200802/east.meets.west.in.venice.htm# |date=2 November 2013 }}</ref> Two more editions include those published by the pastor [[Abraham Hinckelmann]] in [[Hamburg]] in 1694,<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://exhibitions.cul.columbia.edu/exhibits/show/quran/qurans/printed|title=Columbia University Libraries Online Exhibitions {{!}} The Quran in East and West: Manuscripts and Printed Books|website=exhibitions.cul.columbia.edu|language=en-US|access-date=2017-04-03}}</ref> and by Italian priest [[Louis Maracci|Ludovico Maracci]] in [[Padua]] in 1698 with Latin translation and commentary.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://exhibitions.cul.columbia.edu/exhibits/show/quran/item/6131|title=Columbia University Libraries Online Exhibitions {{!}} Alcorani textus universus ex correctioribus Arabum exemplaribus summa fide, atque pulcherrimis characteribus descriptus, vol. 2, p. i|website=exhibitions.cul.columbia.edu|language=en-US|access-date=2017-04-03}}</ref>

Printed copies of the Quran during this period met with strong opposition from [[Ulama|Muslim legal scholars]]: printing anything in Arabic was prohibited in the [[Ottoman empire]] between 1483 and 1726—initially, even on penalty of death.<ref>Suraiya Faroqhi, [https://books.google.com/books?id=cQ8ZLZh9WjwC&pg=PA95 ''Subjects of the Sultan: culture and daily life in the Ottoman Empire''], pp. 134–136, I.B. Tauris, 2005, {{ISBN|978-1-85043-760-4}};[https://books.google.com/books?id=PvwUAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA803 The Encyclopaedia of Islam: Fascicules 111–112 : Masrah Mawlid], Clifford Edmund Bosworth</ref><ref>{{harvnb|Watson|1968|p=435}}; {{harvnb|Clogg|1979|p=67}}</ref> The Ottoman ban on printing in Arabic script was lifted in 1726 for non-religious texts only upon the request of [[Ibrahim Muteferrika]], who printed his first book in 1729. Very few books, and no religious texts, were printed in the Ottoman Empire for another century.{{#tag:ref|"the major Ottoman printing houses published a combined total of only 142 books in more than a century of printing between 1727 and 1838. When taken in conjunction with the fact that only a minuscule number of copies of each book were printed, this statistic demonstrates that the introduction of the printing press did not transform Ottoman cultural life until the emergence of vibrant print media in the middle of the nineteenth century" <ref>Şükrü Hanioğlu, "A Brief History of the Late Ottoman Empire", Princeton University Press (2010), cited after Suresh Emre, [https://sureshemre.wordpress.com/2014/01/18/on-the-late-adoption-of-the-printing-press-in-the-ottoman-empire/ On the late adoption of the printing press in the Ottoman Empire] (2014).</ref>|group=Note}}

In 1786, [[Catherine the Great]] of Russia, sponsored a printing press for "Tatar and Turkish orthography" in [[Saint Petersburg]], with one Mullah Osman Ismail responsible for producing the Arabic types. A Quran was printed with this press in 1787, reprinted in 1790 and 1793 in Saint Petersburg, and in 1803 in [[Kazan Governorate|Kazan]].{{#tag:ref|"at imperial expense, a 'Tatar and Turkish Typography' was established in St. Petersburg; a domestic scholar, Mullah Osman Ismail, was responsible for the manufacture of the types. One of the first products of this printing house was the Qur'ān. Through the doctor and writer, Johann Georg v. Zimmermann (d. 1795), who was  befriended by Catherine II, a copy of the publication arrived in the Göttingen University library. Its director, the philologist Christian Gottlob Heyne (d. 1812), presented the work immediately in the ''Göttingische Anzeigen von gelehrten Sachen'' (28 July 1788); therein he pointed especially to the beauty of the Arabic types. To the Arabic text marginal glosses have been added that consist predominantly of reading variants. The imprint was reproduced unchanged in 1790 and 1793 in St. Petersburg (cf. Schnurrer, Bibliotheca arabica, no. 384); later, after the transfer of the printing house to Kazan, editions appeared in different formats and with varying presentation <ref>(Dorn, ''Chronologisches Verzeichnis'', 371)." ''Encyclopaedia of the Qurʼān: P-Sh'' ed. Jane Dammen McAuliffe, Brill, 2004, p. 251.</ref>
For the 1803 Kazan edition:
Chauvin, V.C. Bib. des ouvrages arabes, vol. X, 95;
Schnurrer, C.F. von. Bibliotheca Arabica, 385.
Original held by  Bayerische Staatsbibliothek – Munich, Germany, Shelfmark   BSB A.or.554.|group=Note}} The first edition printed in Iran appeared in [[Qajar Iran|Tehran]] (1828), a translation in Turkish was printed in Cairo in 1842, and the first officially sanctioned Ottoman edition was finally printed in Constantinople between 1875 and 1877 as a two-volume set, during the [[First Constitutional Era]].<ref>{{Cite book|title=The Palgrave Dictionary of Transnational History: From the mid-19th century to the present day|last=Iriye|first=A.|last2=Saunier|first2=P.|publisher=Springer|year=2009|isbn=978-1-349-74030-7|location=|pages=627}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|title=The Politics of Language and Nationalism in Modern Central Europe|last=Kamusella|first=T.|publisher=Springer|year=2012|isbn=978-0-230-58347-4|location=|pages=265–266}}</ref>

[[Gustav Leberecht Flügel|Gustav Flügel]] published an edition of the Quran in 1834 in [[Leipzig]], which remained authoritative for close to a century, until Cairo's [[Al-Azhar University]] published an edition of the Quran in 1924. This edition was the result of a long preparation as it standardized Quranic orthography and remains the basis of later editions.<ref name=rippin />

==Criticism==
{{main|Criticism of the Quran}}
{{See also|Sword verse}}
The Quran's statements on the creation of the universe and earth, the origins of human life, biology, earth sciences and so on have been criticized by scientists as containing fallacies, being unscientific, and likely to be contradicted by evolving scientific theories.<ref name=MCKVSI2000:30>[[#MCKVSI2000|Cook, ''The Koran'', 2000]]: p.30</ref><ref>see also: Ruthven, Malise, ''A Fury For God'', London; New York : Granta, (2002), p. 126</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.secweb.org/index.aspx?action=viewAsset&id=168|title=Secular Web Kiosk: The Koran Predicted the Speed of Light? Not Really|publisher=|url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20080209094954/http://www.secweb.org/index.aspx?action=viewAsset&id=168|archivedate=9 February 2008|df=dmy-all}}</ref> Several scholars have said that it lacks clarity despite calling itself a clear book.{{refn|<ref>{{cite book |last=Leirvik |first=Oddbjørn |date=2010 |title=Images of Jesus Christ in Islam: 2nd Edition |url=https://books.google.com/?id=IEUdCgAAQBAJ&pg=PR5&dq=child+jesus+islam#v=onepage&q=child%20jesus%20islam&f=false |location=New York|publisher=[[Bloomsbury Publishing|Bloomsbury Academic]]; 2nd edition |pages=33–66 |isbn=978-1441181602}}</ref>{{#tag:ref|Gerd Puin is quoted in the Atlantic Monthly, January, 1999:«The Koran claims for itself that it is 'mubeen' or 'clear'. But if you look at it, you will notice that every fifth sentence or so simply doesn't make sense... the fact is that a fifth of the Koranic text is just incomprehensible...«<ref name="LESTER-1999"/>|group=Note}}<ref>Wansbrough, John (1977). ''Quranic Studies: Sources and Methods of Scriptural Interpretation''</ref><ref>[[Norman Geisler|Geisler, N. L.]] (1999). In Baker encyclopedia of Christian apologetics. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books. Entry on ''Qur'an, Alleged Divine Origin of.''</ref>}}

According to the ''E. J. Brill's First Encyclopaedia of Islam, 1913–1936, Volume 4'', the term ''kafir'' first applied in the Quran to unbelieving Meccans, who endeavoured "to refute and revile the Prophet". A waiting attitude towards the ''[[kafir]]'' was recommended at first for Muslims; later, Muslims were ordered to keep apart from unbelievers and defend themselves against their attacks and even take the offensive.<ref name=EJBFEI-619>{{cite book|last1=Houtsma|first1=M. Th|title=E. J. Brill's First Encyclopaedia of Islam, 1913–1936, Volume 4|date=1993|publisher=Touchstone|isbn=9789004097902|page=619|quote=Tolerance may in no circumstances be extended to the apostate, the renegade Muslim, whose punishment is death. Some authorities allow the remission of this punishment if the apostate recants. Others insist on the death penalty even then. God may pardon him the world to come; the law must punish him in this world.}}</ref> {{quote|[9:5] Then, when the sacred months have passed, slay the idolaters wherever ye find them, and take them (captive), and besiege them, and prepare for them each ambush. But if they repent and establish worship and pay the [[zakat]], then leave their way free. Lo! Allah is Forgiving, Merciful''.{{Cite quran|9|5|e=5|t=p}}}}
Most passages in the Quran referring to unbelievers in general talk about their fate on the [[Islamic eschatology|day of judgement]] and destination in [[Jahannam|hell]].<ref name=EJBFEI-619/>

==Relationship with other literature==
===The Bible===
{{See also|Biblical and Quranic narratives}}
{{Rquote|right|It is He Who sent down to thee (step by step), in truth, the Book, confirming what went before it; and He sent down the Law (of Moses) and the Gospel (of Jesus) before this, as a guide to mankind, and He sent down the criterion (of judgment between right and wrong).<ref>3:3 نزل عليك الكتاب بالحق مصدقا لما بين يديه وانزل التوراة والانجيل</ref>|{{Cite quran|3|3|s=ns|tn=y}}}}
The Quran attributes its relationship with former books (the [[Torah]] and the [[Gospels]]) to their unique origin, saying all of them have been revealed by the one God.<ref>{{Cite quran|2|285|style=nosup}}</ref>{{primary source inline|date=August 2018}}

According to [[Christoph Luxenberg]] (in ''[[The Syro-Aramaic Reading of the Koran]]'') the Quran's language was similar to the [[Syriac language]].<ref>{{cite book|last=Luxenberg|first=Christoph|title=The Syro-Aramaic reading of the Koran : a contribution to the decoding of the language of the Koran|publisher=H.Schiler|location=Berlin|year=2007|isbn=978-3899300888}}</ref> The Quran recounts stories of many of the people and events recounted in [[Judaism|Jewish]] and [[Christianity|Christian]] sacred books ([[Tanakh]], [[Bible]]) and devotional literature ([[Apocrypha]], [[Midrash]]), although it differs in many details. [[Adam]], [[Enoch (ancestor of Noah)|Enoch]], [[Noah]], [[Hud (prophet)|Eber]], [[Shelah (son of Judah)|Shelah]], [[Abraham]], [[Lot (biblical figure)|Lot]], [[Ishmael]], [[Isaac]], [[Jacob]], [[Joseph (patriarch)|Joseph]], [[Job (biblical figure)|Job]], [[Jethro (Bible)|Jethro]], [[David]], [[Solomon]], [[Elijah]], [[Elisha]], [[Jonah]], [[Aaron]], [[Moses]], [[Zechariah (priest)|Zechariah]], [[John the Baptist]] and [[Jesus]] are mentioned in the Quran as prophets of God (see [[Prophets of Islam]]). In fact, [[Moses in Islam|Moses]] is mentioned more in the Quran than any other individual.<ref name=Keeler>Annabel Keeler, "Moses from a Muslim Perspective", in: Solomon, Norman; Harries, Richard; Winter, Tim (eds.), [https://books.google.com/books?id=9A4JZ8CSJJwC&pg=PA55&vq=Moses&dq=Moses+Qur%27an&source=gbs_search_s&cad=4&sig=ACfU3U1sEssZMSZaPhSSlzCosLopQbDrOQ#PPA55,M1 ''Abraham's children: Jews, Christians and Muslims in conversation''], T&T Clark Publ. (2005), pp. 55–66.</ref> Jesus is mentioned more often in the Quran than Muhammad, while [[Mary in Islam|Mary]] is mentioned in the Quran more than the New Testament.<ref>Esposito, John L. ''The Future of Islam''. Oxford University Press US, 2010. {{ISBN|978-0-19-516521-0}} [https://archive.org/details/futureofislam0000espo/page/40 <!-- quote="Christians are often surprised to discover that". --> p. 40]</ref>

===Relationships===
Some non-Muslim groups such as [[Bahá'í]]s and [[Druze]] view the Quran as holy. [[Unitarian Universalism|Unitarian Universalists]] may also seek inspiration from the Quran. The Quran has been noted to have certain narratives similarities to the [[Diatessaron]], [[Protoevangelium of James]], [[Infancy Gospel of Thomas]], [[Gospel of Pseudo-Matthew]] and the [[Arabic Infancy Gospel]].<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=DbtkpgGn4CEC&lpg=PA112&dq=apocrypha%20qur'an%20Diatessaron&pg=PA112#v=onepage&q=apocrypha%20qur'an%20Diatessaron&f=false Christian Lore and the Arabic Qur'an by Signey Griffith], p. 112, in ''The Qurʼān in its historical context'', Gabriel Said Reynolds, ed. Psychology Press, 2008</ref><ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=sjJaBjxg7EUC&lpg=PA197&dq=apocrypha%20qur'an&pg=PA197#v=onepage&q=apocrypha%20qur'an&f=false Qur'an-Bible Comparison: A Topical Study of the Two Most Influential and Respectful Books in Western and Middle Eastern Civilizations by Ami Ben-Chanan], pp. 197–198, Trafford Publishing, 2011</ref><ref>New Catholic Encyclopaedia, 1967, the Catholic University of America, Washington DC, Vol. VII, p. 677</ref> One scholar has suggested that the Diatessaron, as a [[gospel harmony]], may have led to the conception that the Christian Gospel is one text.<ref>"On pre-Islamic Christian strophic poetical texts in the Koran" by Ibn Rawandi, found in ''[[What the Koran Really Says]]: Language, Text and Commentary'', Ibn Warraq, Prometheus Books, ed. {{ISBN|978-1-57392-945-5}}</ref>

===Arab writing===
[[File:Large Koran.jpg|thumb|right|upright=0.7|Page from a Quran ('Umar-i Aqta'). [[Iran]], [[Afghanistan]], [[Timurid dynasty]], circa 1400. Opaque [[watercolor]], ink and gold on paper Muqaqqaq script. 170 × 109 cm (66 {{frac|15|16}} × 42 {{frac|15|16}} in). Historical region: [[Uzbekistan]].]]
After the Quran, and the general rise of Islam, the [[Arabic alphabet]] developed rapidly into an art form.<ref name =leaman />

Wadad Kadi, Professor of Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations at [[University of Chicago]], and Mustansir Mir, Professor of Islamic studies at [[Youngstown State University]], state:<ref>Wadad Kadi and Mustansir Mir, ''Literature and the Quran'', Encyclopaedia of the Qur'an, vol. 3, pp. 213, 216</ref>

{{quote|Although Arabic, as a language and a literary tradition, was quite well developed by the time of Muhammad's prophetic activity, it was only after the emergence of Islam, with its founding scripture in Arabic, that the language reached its utmost capacity of expression, and the literature its highest point of complexity and sophistication. Indeed, it probably is no exaggeration to say that the Quran was one of the most conspicuous forces in the making of classical and post-classical Arabic literature.

The main areas in which the Quran exerted noticeable influence on Arabic literature are diction and themes; other areas are related to the literary aspects of the Quran particularly oaths (q.v.), metaphors, motifs and symbols. As far as diction is concerned, one could say that Quranic words, idioms and expressions, especially "loaded" and formulaic phrases, appear in practically all genres of literature and in such abundance that it is simply impossible to compile a full record of them. For not only did the Quran create an entirely new linguistic corpus to express its message, it also endowed old, pre-Islamic words with new meanings and it is these meanings that took root in the language and subsequently in the literature...}}

==See also==
{{Wikipedia books
 |1=Quran
 |3=List of surahs in the Quran
 |5=Islam
}}
* [[Bi-la kaifa]]
* [[Criticism of the Quran]]
* [[Digital Quran]]
* [[Hadith of the Quran and Sunnah]]
* [[Historical reliability of the Quran]]
* [[Islamic schools and branches]]
* [[List of chapters in the Quran]]
* [[List of translations of the Quran]]
* [[Quran and miracles]]
* [[Quran translations]]
* [[Quranism]]
* [[Schools of Islamic theology]]
* [[Violence in the Quran]]
* [[Women in the Quran]]

{{Portal bar|Islam}}

==Notes==
{{reflist|group=Note}}

==References==
===Citations===
{{Reflist}}

===Bibliography===
*{{cite book|ref=harv|first=Nidhal |last=Guessoum|title=Islam's Quantum Question: Reconciling Muslim Tradition and Modern Science|page=174|publisher=I.B. Tauris|isbn=978-1848855175|date=2011}}
*{{cite book |last1=Cook |first1=Michael |title=The Koran; A Very Short Introduction |date=2000 |publisher=Oxford University Press |url=https://archive.org/details/koranveryshorti00cook |url-access=registration |quote=The Koran; A Very Short Introduction. |accessdate=24 September 2019 |ref=MCKVSI2000}}

==Further reading==
{{refbegin|30em}}
'''Introductory texts:'''
* {{cite book|last=Hixon|first=Lex|title=The heart of the Qurʼan : an introduction to Islamic spirituality|year=2003|publisher=Quest|isbn=978-0835608220|edition=2.}}
* {{cite book|last=Hawting|first=G.R.|title=Approaches to the Qur'ān|year=1993|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-0-415-05755-4|edition=1}}
* {{cite book|last=Rippin|first=Andrew|title=The Blackwell companion to the Qur'an|year=2006|publisher=Blackwell|isbn=978-1-4051-1752-4|url=https://archive.org/details/blackwellcompani00ripp_0}}
* {{Cite book | last = Tabatabae | first = Sayyid Mohammad Hosayn | title = The Qur'an in Islam: Its Impact and Influence on the Life of Muslims | publisher = Routledge | year = 1988 | isbn = 978-0-7103-0266-3 | url-access = registration | url = https://archive.org/details/quraninislamitsi0000taba }}
* Neal Robinson, ''Discovering the Qur'an'', Georgetown University Press, 2002. {{ISBN|978-1-58901-024-6}}
* [[Michael Sells|Sells, Michael]], ''Approaching the Qur'ān: The Early Revelations'', White Cloud Press, Book & CD edition (15 November 1999). {{ISBN|978-1-883991-26-5}}
* {{Cite book | last = Wild | first = Stefan | title = The Quʼran as Text | publisher = Brill| year = 1996| isbn =978-90-04-09300-3}}
* {{Cite book| publisher = Edinburgh University Press| isbn = 978-0-7486-0597-2| last = Bell| first = Richard|author2=William Montgomery Watt | title = Bell's introduction to the Qurʼān| year = 1970| authorlink=Richard Bell (Arabist)}}
* {{Cite book| edition = Second| publisher = University Of Chicago Press| isbn = 978-0-226-70286-5| last = Rahman| first = Fazlur| title = Major Themes of the Qur'an| year = 2009| authorlink= Fazlur Rahman| origyear=1989}}
* {{Cite journal | last=Peters | first=F.E. | authorlink=F. E. Peters | title=The Quest of the Historical Muhammad | journal=[[International Journal of Middle East Studies]] | volume=23 | issue=3 | pages=291–315 |year=1991| title-link=The Quest of the Historical Muhammad (Peters) | doi=10.1017/S0020743800056312 }}
* {{Cite book |last=Peters |first=Francis E. | title=The Monotheists: Jews, Christians and Muslims in Conflict and Competition | publisher=Princeton University Press | edition= | year=2003 | isbn=978-0-691-12373-8}}
* {{Cite encyclopedia|last=Nasr |first=Seyyed Hossein | title=Qurʾān|year=2007| encyclopedia=Encyclopædia Britannica Online | location=|publisher=|url=http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-68890/Quran}}
* {{Cite book | last=Nasr | first=Seyyed Hossein | title=Islam: Religion, History and Civilization | publisher=HarperSanFrancisco | edition= | year=2003 | isbn=978-0-06-050714-5 | url=https://archive.org/details/islamreligionhis00nasr_0 }}
* {{Cite book | last=Kugle | first=Scott Alan | title=Rebel Between Spirit And Law: Ahmad Zarruq, Sainthood, And Authority in Islam | publisher=Indiana University Press| year=2006 | isbn=978-0-253-34711-4}}
* {{Cite book | last=Esposito | first=John | authorlink=John Esposito | author2=Yvonne Yazbeck Haddad | title=Muslims on the Americanization Path? | year=2000 | publisher=Oxford University Press | isbn=978-0-19-513526-8 | url=https://archive.org/details/muslimsonamerica00yvon }}
* {{Cite book|last = Corbin|first = Henry|authorlink = Henry Corbin|title = History of Islamic Philosophy, Translated by Liadain Sherrard, Philip Sherrard|publisher = London; Kegan Paul International in association with Islamic Publications for The Institute of Ismaili Studies |year = 1993 |origyear=1964 (in French) |isbn = 978-0-7103-0416-2|title-link = Philip Sherrard}}
* {{Cite book| ref = harv| edition = Second| publisher = University Of Chicago Press| isbn = 978-0-226-70286-5| last = Rahman| first = Fazlur| title = Major Themes of the Qur'an| year = 2009| authorlink= Fazlur Rahman| origyear=1989}}
* {{Cite book | last=Allen | first=Roger | title=An Introduction to Arabic literature | year=2000 | publisher=Cambridge University Press | isbn=978-0-521-77657-8}}

'''Traditional Quranic commentaries (tafsir):'''
{{main|List of tafsir works}}
* [[Al-Tabari]], ''Jāmiʻ al-bayān ʻan taʼwīl al-qurʼān'', Cairo 1955–69, transl. J. Cooper (ed.), ''The Commentary on the Qurʼān'', Oxford University Press, 1987. {{ISBN|978-0-19-920142-6}}
* {{Cite book | last = Tabatabae | first = Sayyid Mohammad Hosayn | authorlink = Allameh Tabatabaei | title = Tafsir al-Mizan| publisher = | year =| title-link = Tafsir al-Mizan }}

'''Topical studies:'''
* Stowasser, Barbara Freyer. ''Women in the Qur'an, Traditions and Interpretation'', Oxford University Press; Reprint edition (1 June 1996), {{ISBN|978-0-19-511148-4}}
* {{Cite book| publisher = Cambridge University Press| isbn = 978-0-521-36470-6| last = McAuliffe| first = Jane Dammen| title = Qurʼānic Christians: an analysis of classical and modern exegesis| location = New York| year = 1991| authorlink=Jane Dammen McAuliffe}}
* {{cite book |last1=Siljander |first1=Mark D. |first2=John David |last2=Mann |title=A Deadly Misunderstanding: a Congressman's Quest to Bridge the Muslim-Christian Divide |location= New York |publisher=Harper One |year=2008 |isbn=9780061438288}}

'''Literary criticism:'''
* {{Cite book| edition = First| publisher = UK Islamic Academy| isbn = 978-1-872531-65-6| author = M.M. Al-Azami | title = The History of The Qur'anic Text: From Revelation to Compilation: A Comparative Study with the Old and New Testaments| year = 2003| authorlink=M. M. Al-Azami}}
* [[Issa J. Boullata|Boullata, Issa J.]] (Ed.) (2000). ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=SdgaD-7C6TkC Literary Structures of Religious Meaning in the Qur'ān]''. Curzon Press. {{ISBN|0700712569}}.
* [[Gunter Luling]] (2003). ''A challenge to Islam for reformation: the rediscovery and reliable reconstruction of a comprehensive pre-Islamic Christian hymnal hidden in the Koran under earliest Islamic reinterpretations''. New Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass Publishers. (580 Seiten, lieferbar per Seepost). {{ISBN|978-81-208-1952-8}}.
* [[Christoph Luxenberg|Luxenberg, Christoph]] (2004). ''[[The Syro-Aramaic Reading of the Koran|The Syro-Aramaic Reading of the Koran: a contribution to the decoding of the language of the Koran]]'', Berlin, Verlag Hans Schiler, 2007. {{ISBN|978-3-89930-088-8}}.
* [[Gerd R. Puin|Puin, Gerd R.]]. "Observations on Early Quran Manuscripts in Sana'a", in ''The Qurʾan as Text'', ed. Stefan Wild, E.J. Brill 1996, pp.&nbsp;107–111.
* [[John Wansbrough|Wansbrough, John]]. ''Quranic Studies'', Oxford University Press, 1977
* {{cite book| last =[[Ibn Warraq]] (editor)| title =Koranic Allusions: The Biblical, Qumranian, and Pre-Islamic Background to the Koran| publisher =Prometheus Books| date =2013| page =463| url =http://www.prometheusbooks.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=2183| isbn =978-1616147594}}

'''Encyclopedias:'''
* {{Cite book| edition = First| publisher = Brill Academic Publishers| isbn = 978-90-04-11465-4| others = Jane Dammen McAuliffe et al. (eds.)| title = Encyclopaedia of the Qur'an | date = 2001–2006| title-link = Encyclopaedia of the Qur'an}}
* {{Cite book| edition = First| publisher = Routledge| isbn = 978-0-415-77529-8| others = Oliver Leaman et al. (eds.) | title = The Qur'an: An Encyclopedia| year = 2005}}
* {{Cite book| edition = First| publisher = Center for Islamic Sciences| isbn = 978-1-926620-00-8| others = Muzaffar Iqbal et al. (eds.)| title = The Integrated Encyclopedia of the Qur'an|date=2013|url=http://www.iequran.com}}

'''Academic journals:'''
* {{Cite journal| issn = 1465-3591| publisher= [[School of Oriental and African Studies]] | title = Journal of Qur'anic Studies / Majallat al-dirāsāt al-Qurʹānīyah| title-link= Journal of Qur'anic Studies | journal= Journal of Qur'anic Studies = Majallat Al-Dirāsāt Al-Qurʹānīyah }}
* {{cite journal |title=Journal of Qur'anic Research and Studies |location=Medina, Saudi Arabia| publisher=King Fahd Qur'an Printing Complex| url=http://jqrs.qurancomplex.gov.sa/en/}}
{{refend}}

==External links==
{{Sister project links}}

'''Quran browsers and translations:'''
* [http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3atext%3a2002.02.0006 Quran text and translation at [[Tufts University]]]
* [http://tanzil.net/ Tanzil&nbsp;– Online Quran Navigator]
* [http://quran.com Quran.com]
* [http://al-quran.info Al-Quran.info]
* [http://Qurango.com Holy Quran in Easy English, Urdu, Arabic and 70 other languages]
* [http://www.korantranslations.com/ Read and Compare Koran Translations]
* [https://alahazrat.net/alquran/Quran/index.html Quran translation]
* [http://www.yabiladi.com/coran/ Multilingual Quran (Arabic, English, French, German, Dutch, Spanish, Italian)]
* [http://www.kuran.gen.tr/ Koran Translations in many languages]

'''Word-for-word analysis:'''
* [http://corpus.quran.com Quranic Arabic Corpus], shows syntax and morphology for each word.
* [http://www.emuslim.com/Quran/Translation_English.asp Word for Word English Translation&nbsp;– emuslim.com]

'''Manuscripts:'''
* [http://cudl.lib.cam.ac.uk/collections/islamic Several digitised Qurans in the Cambridge University Digital Library]
* [http://www.corpuscoranicum.de/index Corpus Coranicum] research project at Berlin-Brandenburg Academy
* [http://openn.library.upenn.edu/Data/0031/html/2017_232_1.html 2017-232-1 al-Qurʼān. / القرآن at OPenn]

'''Other resources:'''
* {{Curlie|Society/Religion_and_Spirituality/Islam/Quran/}}
* [https://www.bl.uk/sacred-texts/themes/islam The British Library: Discovering Sacred Texts - Islam]

{{Sura||—|—}}
{{Characters and names in the Quran}}
{{Islam topics|state=collapsed}}

{{Authority control}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2016}}

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